Mystery Make Up Bag from The Powder Room Reveal

Hi everyone!

I was browsing through my emails when something from Living Social caught my eye. They had a deal called "The Mystery Makeup Bag" so obviously I clicked on it. CLICK HERE to visit the page of the deal, although it has finished now but you can still purchase it from the official site (which I will explain in a bit)!

So the deal seemed good, $39AUD and $9AUD shipping for $110 worth of cosmetics from a popular Korean brand called 3 Concept Eyes. You can get up to 6 full-sized products in your bag! It was from a store called the Powder Room which is both online and a physical store in Strathfield. CLICK HERE to visit the official website (I'm not affiliated with this store/brand in any way!). So even though the deal is over, you can still buy the bag if you're interested from the actual store.

What I discovered: I saw that shipping would take 3-4 weeks after the deal ends on Living Social (which is ridiculous since Strathfield is within driving/public transport distance from me). So I went straight to the website and bought it from there. Shipping is free on the website, the bag was $49 for $130 worth of products, and they had a promotion which led to another $9.80 AUD off my order total. So I ended up paying only $39.20 AUD for $130 AUD worth of products with free next day shipping (and it arrived the next day)! Compared to paying $48 AUD (including shipping cost) for only $110 AUD worth of products, and waiting 3-4 weeks for delivery.

Do your research before buying from group buying sites, just because it seems like a good deal, it rarely ever is!

Anyways, here's what I got in my bag (all bags are different):

It all came well-packaged, in the original boxes and tied in a pretty silver ribbon! :)

A cream eyeshadow (Full-Sized) in the shade: GOLD PEACH. This was the original reason I wanted to buy the bag, for the chance of getting a cream eyeshadow to add to my collection!

Gold Peach retails for $22 AUD, CLICK HERE if you want to see some better pictures of it. It has a shimmering pearl finish and a natural tone. 

Fresh Aqua Mist (Mini-Size - 30mLs) retails for $16.50 AUD, CLICK HERE if you want to purchase it. I had to look it up to figure out what this product was before using it. It can be sprayed to moisturise your skin and prepping your face before make up, or after make up to create a dewy finish. It contains plant extracts and "mineral-rich glacial milk" which seem to provide some benefits for your skin. I have a few products like this already so it'll be interesting to see how this one holds up. :)

Opps, almost forgot to mention: all products are sealed with a sticker on the side (as shown in the image above)!

This is a full-sized Super Slim Pen Eye Liner (the style is a thin marker) in the shade Brown. Usually I'd go for black liners but I do have a couple of brown pencil liners and brown gel liners - I've never had a brown liquid liner so this is definitely a new idea to me. It retails for $25 AUD, CLICK HERE if you're interested in seeing it in action.

Swatch of the liner, you can layer it up to increase the intensity (this has 3 layers). It is smudge-proof, and once dry - it is waterproof! The point is very thin to create the most precise eye lines! :)

Paint Lipgloss (full-size) in the shade REAL PEACH which retails for $22.80 AUD, CLICK HERE for more information about this gloss form the website, I have yet to try this out!

I received two samples of the Shimmer Light Mandarin Phenomenon (Full-size retails for $72 AUD, CLICK HERE to visit that). I couldn't find the Advanced Lycopene Infusion on the website but it clearly states that it's anti-aging. Unlike all the other products I received in this bag, these bottles all have written English instructions on the back which is perfect since the site doesn't seem to have any!

Everything all up: Retails for $92.29 AUD+, since the whole thing should make up to $130 AUD, the 4 samples must be estimated to be worth around $9.50 AUD each. 

CLICK HERE, the makeup pouch which was included in this bag is retailed at $5.99 AUD. 

I'm really excited to be trying out more Korean brands like the ones I got in this bag (I find Asian cosmetics to be of a high quality - especially since they dominate the international beauty awards every year)! Overall, I am very pleased with all the products in this bag! Whilst I don't think it would be worth $130 AUD for everything, I would happily pay the $39.20 AUD for all of these products. All the bags are different and it will be interesting to see what everyone else had gotten! :)

Thank you for reading this post! You know what to do if you like it. ;)

Stay Beautiful! xx

Make Up Tools - Sigma Brushes Mrs. Bunny Review

I've decided to start off with a review of possibly the most over-reviewed item in the world: Sigma Brushes.

If you haven't heard of sigma brushes before, I congratulate you because that must have taken quite some effort. The main - and most obvious reason - why Sigma brushes are so incredibly popular is due to the affiliate program which basically means if you sign up to Sigma, you'll be given a link and when someone buys from Sigma through that link - you get commission from that sale to use on even more Sigma products. In other words, you advertise for them, if the buyer buys through your link from advertising Sigma, you get rewarded with money to spend on more sigma products, and Sigma ends up making a whole heap of money from it.

I honestly really admire the pure simplicity and genius of that form of advertising. It really is a win-win scenario for the company!

So does it live up to the hype?

Some points I should clarify before we continue:
> I am not a sigma affiliate
> All products were purchased with my own money

Okay, lets' start!

Also I'm waiting for more brushes to arrive soon *excited*

So pictured above is my current brush collection (not including the cheap eco-tool travel brushes I keep in my car in case of super emergency touch ups - don't lie, we all have done make up in an emergency before).

And of this collection, 22 brushes are from Sigma (24 if we include the travel sized ones included in the kit and as a free gift).

My First Ever Sigma Order <3

I had ordered the complete Mrs. Bunny Essential Kit, the 10 piece Synthetic Essential kit, and the Beauty Expert Brow Design kit. The free gift for their Fall 2012 season was a travel size E05 (eyeliner) brush. For the sake of not making this entry too long, I'll only be reviewing the Mrs. Bunny kit, which is a synthetic 12 brush kit and case collection.

I will go through all the brushes of this kit in no particular order because I'm not that orgranised.

Sigma Bunny Brush Set ($120 USD). The larger brushes come with a plastic protector and the kit comes in a baby blue hard case which I use to display my brushes on my vanity.

F70 - Concealer Brush

Perfect sized brush for spot concealing, it deposits the perfect amount and is easily controlled. Doubles as a good eye shadow base brush. However I did have a massive issue with it that I have blogged about HERE!

F60 - Foundation Brush

Every person who does make up must have at least tried one of these before. I'm not a fan of using this brush for foundation because I hate foundation brushes for foundation application in general. I prefer other brushes so I use this for application of moisturiser/treatments if I don't want to use my hands.

F50 - Duo Fibre/ Stippling Brush

I found this stippling/duo fibre brush to be small in width. The bristles are soft and long so they allow for easy blending without streaking. I prefer to use this brush for cream blushes since using it for foundation application can be time-consuming compared to larger stippling brushes I own such as my Sedona Lace brushes.

F30 - Large Powder Brush

I do like that the brush is an oblong shape which encourages powder application without risking the dreaded cake face that many powder brushes risk. A large and very soft brush.

E05 - Eyeliner Brush

This is the softest eyeliner brush I own. I have overly sensitive eyes and what many people consider to be soft for eyeliner application is actually very harsh to my own eyes. So if I say this brush is soft (yet firm enough for good gel lining), believe me.

E70 - Medium Angled Shading Brush

A good brush for the crease and highlighting of the brow bones, you can never really have enough of these brushes. That being said, you can get these brushes of this quality with many cheaper brands such as Sedona Lace.

E65 - Small Angle Brush

This is small for increased precision but unfortunately, I find it to be a bit harsh and scratchy for my sensitive eyes. So I only use this brush for pressing liner/eye shadow into the hairline of my lashes for a subtle liner effect.

E60 - Large Shader Brush

A basic eye brush for application of cream or colour over the eye. It's made to cover large lid area in minimal time/effort.

E55 - Eye Shading Brush

This is my favourite brush of this kit! It has easily made it into my favourite brushes of all time. The entire kit is worth it for this brush. It is perfect for my crease and the blending of this brush is borderline orgasmic. Enough said. If you're only going to buy one brush, buy this one.

E40 - Tapered Blending Brush

A basic brush, didn't really impress me that much but it does it's job.

E30 - Pencil Brush

A very soft brush (even with my extreme sensitivity to many eye brushes), very good for inner eye highlighting or smudging/smoking out looks.

F40 - Large Angled Contour Brush

Good for blush application or a very soft, blended out contour of the face and body.

And that's everything - finally! ;)

Here's some closing tips:
- Sigma always has a 10% coupon code. Always. Just Google it since it changes quite often.
- Sigma always has a free gift with every order over $30USD, I got a travel eyeliner brush (which is good since I can actually use this brush without crying) but previously eyeshadows have been given out.
- Apparently this website: redefining beauty, is an authorised Australian reseller. The reason I didn't use this site despite being in Australia is because there's no discount code, the range was limited and didn't have what I wanted, and when I compared the cart of both sites, Sigma somehow ended up cheaper even with shipping! Also I'm one of those people that would rather buy from the original so I know what I have is the real thing. *paranoid*

CLICK HERE TO GO TO SIGMA (Remember I'm not an affiliate so I do not benefit from this is any way, shape or form).

Stay beautiful! xx