1. Coastal Scents 88 Matte Eye Shadow Palette: (retails for $18.95 i got it for $15 during a promotion last week) a makeup artists dream, i'd suppose. Now this is a really great palette, and you get so much product for the money! It comes with 88 eyeshadows (a little smaller than dime sized) ranging from pale highlight colors to darker colors for more intense looks. I had heard a lot about the pigmentation of these shadows and i have to say I'm impressed. I've used a lot of eyeshadow in my day and the only thing that really compares to these are MAC and urban decay shadows. They have a matte or satin finish, and some of them contain the tiniest bit of shimmer which is really lovely. I just can't get over the color selection, I think I'm gonna have to do a valentines day look with these for sure :) But yes highly recommend them. So i took a few pictures, and swatched a couple of shadows (without an eyeshadow base, imagine how pigmented they'd look with one on.)
ignore my grubby little fingerprints
im not the biggest fan of the cheesy logo but i don't mind it when the product is so great
CS 88 with the plastic cover on
aren't they gorgeous!
ignoring my camera's weird shading of my skin tone lol
the green shade is the sixth one down in the third row
the red is ninth row seventh one down
the black is the last one down there in the corner of the last row
the purple is the last one down in the sixth row
the white is the first one in the first row
and the blue is fifth row seventh down
2. Pink Kabuki Brush ($4.99) was just my inner child wanting to have a pink brush but surprisingly i love it. It is super soft and turns out that it is real animal hair that was just dyed pink, making it an actual worthy purchase, it is super soft, and did not shed ONE hair after being washed, seriously. The side is a teeny bit tapered and i dont know if that was just my brush or how they all are but i like that little effect. It is perfect for putting on loose powders and even blush, which i used it for yesterday. The overall look was very pretty, another winner for coastal scents. Just one little thing though, the brush handle is a bit small, its not unbearably so but its just a little bit on the small size for the handle.
Pink Kabuki-freshly washed. :)
3+4. Italian Badger Round Crease Brush ($2.89) and the Synthetic Shadow Brush ($2.95) I am truly impressed with the quality of these CS brushes. They are so good! A lot of them are on par with the MAC brushes, and honestly for the price, whats not to love! So i picked up the crease brush because of the italian badger hairs and it is great! The bristles are compact and dense, and it is very very soft. I used this one for a look on a friend yesterday and it was awesome at getting the right amount of color into the crease. The synthetic shadow brush is good for a variety of reasons. It is versatile, because it is synthetic this brush can be used with products of different textures, it would be perfect for liquids like concealer application and wet eyeshadow. Its also great used with regular or cream shadows, it did a really good job packing on the color and just a very smooth application. I think these brushes are so great and such high quality, they don't look as cheap as they are either. The wood paneled finish on the Italian Badger line is elegant and the Synthetic Shadow Brush definitely looks professional and polished. If your looking for some high quality MAC dupes, try a few of these out.
close up- on the left the Synthetic Shadow Brush and next to it the Italian Badger Round Crease Brush
sans flash
with flash! (side note: i'm still wearing OPI's domestic goddess nail polish and it has JUST started to chip and i didn't use any base or top coat so it definitely would go a long with that on as well, OPI=good stuff)
all three brushes:
5+6. CS Mica Pigments (Sample Size[tsp]: $1.00) and 10 Gram Jars ($0.59) I really wanted to try out the MAC pigments but haven't had a chance to stop by the store yet, so i thought these would be a good alternative, and so far i think i did the right thing. These pigments are so super concentrated and the color selection is phenomenal. I chose five colors and got the sample sizes for a dollar each (steal!) and trust me it's a lot of product, your not gonna run out of it anytime soon. I also got the jars just to store them in a way that was easier for me to use, and I have to say I really like these jars too, they're just easy and simple. One side note for the pigments: be careful and read the description. Make sure the colors you pick up are approved for eye use! Thats important! You don't want to damage or injure your eyes in anyway so just read before you buy. CS is really good about writing all this information down on the descriptions. So anyways these are so SUPER pigmented. I bought them because I got the matte shadow palette and on the days i want a bit more oomph and sparkle, I could just dust on a pigment color. I think it was a pretty good idea. You will need a base for these most of the time and they apply beautifully! I didn't do swatches yet but I will do a more indepth review later on when i've used them a bit more. But overall impression: LOVE. I got them in 24 Karat Gold, Antique Silver, Metallic Pearl Honey, Sparkle Blue, and Ultimate Shimmer. Coastal Scents also sent a free sample of a Flamingo Pink Pigment Glitter which i have yet to try but will let you guys know how it goes.
I'm loving the colors, and the jars came in very handy!
a little side note though: the 10 gram jars wont hold all the product for some of them, I still have the little packets they came in which still have a little powder left in them but its all good. :)
That was my intial impression on all the CS stuff i got, I'll try to do a more detailed one soon! (i'm not endorsing these products or being sponsored by coastalscents.com this is just my opinion/images property of their respective owners.)
fun reads,
bella
ps: Jonathan Rhys Meyers - sexy.
