Mother's Day Haul from Luxola

Sorry for being hiatus for 5 days...I've been out of town and internet connection was out of reach :(

Anyway, I'm back! I'm so happy that I finally have my Mother's Day items from Luxola. They had 30% off on their items and I took the opportunity to buy. Luxola is one of my trusted online shops. They ship your orders immediately and all their items are top quality. I love the fact that their site base is in Singapore and they ship directly to the Philippines without going through customs. They also give free shipping when you reach a certain amount.

Anyway, I fell in love with the brush brand called Zoeva. It's a German brand and they carry high quality brushes at a much affordable price. It's not as expensive as MAC but the quality is superb. I bought 2 Zoeva brushes from Luxola. I'm planning to buy more in the future.

This one is the 142 concealer buffer. I actually don't have any brushes for concealers...I saw this on the site and I bought one.

This one is the 101 Face Definer. This one is like the Sigma tapered brush. I don't have any tapered brush in my collection so I also bought one. 

I've heard so much raves about the Sleek eye palettes. I actually don't like their blush. I bought a Sleek blush before and I only used it once. I gave another shot to this brand and bought this. 

I'm quite excited to play with this babies soon and share my thoughts with you guys. 

Perfect Spot-On Brush Cleaner: Cinema Secrets Professional Makeup Brush Cleaner

In the light of finding the best brush cleaner, I stumbled upon a thread online which recommended good spot cleaning solutions. I've been very meticulous when it comes to cleaning my brushes every time I use them. I need a brush cleaner for everyday use just because it is time consuming for my makeup brushes to bathe everyday. I mean, all you makeup junkies know this for a fact. It takes so much time for the brushes to dry when you let them soak in shampoo and water. I cannot afford to wait for a day for them to dry up and then ending up using it again making them dirty. Like what I've said before, I've been vigilant with the cleanliness of my brushes because I saw that my acne problem started from it.

So far, I've used the Parian Spirit and the Sephora brush cleaner. The Parian Spirit was a good cleaner but it gave a very harsh smell that I cannot tolerate plus the bristles of my makeup brushes became stiff. The Sephora brush cleaner was a let down. I do like the smell in all fairness but my bottle was empty after having at least 4 rounds of cleaning. It takes that much liquid to clean brushes meaning it's not an effective brush cleaner for me. 

Some Pro Makeup Artists suggested to use Cinema Secrets Professional Makeup Brush Cleaner. Luckily, I saw a shop here in Malaysia that offers the item.

Here's a breakdown of the product

Brand: Cinema Secrets

What it is: Professional Brush Cleaner

Price: RM 52.00 (when converted to Philippine Peso = PHP 754) / $8.00 plus $10 shipping fee (more or less PHP810 total)

Size: 2 FL. OZ. / 59 ML

What it does: Santizes Makeup Brushes

What I like about the product:

- It breaks down makeup residue immediately. 

- You only need a little amount for your brushes to be clean 

- It doesn't have the annoying smell

- Makeup brushes will smell like powder when dry

What I don't like about the product:

- It's not readily available in Manila. 

- You need to go overseas or order it online and wait for your product.

- A bit pricey. Compared to the Parian Spirit and the Sephora brush cleaner, it costs more.

Will I repurchase this product? Yes! Definitely! Even if it costs more than my other makeup brush cleaners, I think I found my Holy Grail. 

Where to buy this product:

Online:

http://camerareadycosmetics.com/

or

http://shop.cinemasecrets.com/tools-supplies/professional-brush-cleaner-1/brush-cleaner-group.html

Malaysia:

Nica Professional Makeup

Lot 1-54 & Lot 1-55 Fahrenheit88, 1st Floor, Box No. 1-54, 179 Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Sephora Brush Cleaner

So the other day, I was at Sephora buying all kinds of beauty products and one of the products I purchased was this Makeup cleaner from Sephora.

I forgot to bring my Makeup Brush cleaner specifically the Parian Spirit brush cleaner. It was bulky and I said to myself I need to put some in a smaller spray container so I can bring it with me for my vacation. To make the long story short, I forgot to bring the cleaner and I ended up buying this one.

First off, the cleaner has a nice scent. It smells better than the Parian Spirit. It has a lighter fruity smell. The Parian Spirit smells tangy and it gets into your nostrils. This one doesn't irritate your nose.

In the instructions, it says that you have to spray 3 to 4 times on your brush and then you sweep it on a cloth so that the makeup brush becomes clean. I followed the instructions. Bigger makeup brushes needs more sprays at least 5 to 6 times. I tried it on my powder brush and my foundation brush and it does not work as well as my Parian Spirit. I'm assuming it is because it doesn't have an oil component to it. The Parian Spirit has a bit of an oil component that's why it easily cleans the makeup brushes. It's also a bit annoying to spray the solution to the brush because a lot of product comes out from the spray nozzle and it doesn't hit the brush entirely. It goes everywhere. 

Sadly, I'm a bit disappointed with this one. Not worth the money I paid for.