New Coastal Scents Brushes Review

When I got the 88 Piece Warm Palette from Coastal Scents, I also got some of the new brushes, as well as good old staples that I needed to have. Here are my thoughts on them.

Kabuki-on-a-stick

This has been compared to Bare Escentuals' Handy Buki brush, and although I don't have that particular brush, I own several BE brushes that have the same hairs as this Kabuki-on-a-stick. This also reminds me of MAC's 109 brush that I own. First of all, it has a small, albeit dense head of hair. I haven't tried this on mineral makeup yet, but I discovered that this is good for liquid makeup, actually. I used this to apply Joeur Luminizing Moisture Tint, and this brush worked amazingly well on spreading the product evenly on the skin and creating a smooth, flawless finish. I also use this brush to apply BB creams (reviews and thoughts coming soon!), and this also worked great; it spread the product neither too thick nor too thin, and it gave a pretty finish to the makeup. The only downside I can think about this product is that it is a tad scratchy, although it didn't bother me much, and the longer I use it, the more I get used to the sensation. Remember to wash this brush before using it. Using conditioner on the hairs may probably make it feel softer on the skin.



Jumbo Italian Badger Fan Brush

Whoever named this brush "Jumbo" wasn't joking. This fan brush is HUGE. It also has this nasty smell upon washing. It reminds me of the smell of a wet dog, probably because this is made of animal hair. Take heart, though, because you can deodorize your new brushes using this technique from Enkore of YouTube.

The nasty smell aside, this is a great tool to brush away shadow fall-out when you're doing your eyes. This would also be a great blush and highlighter brush. I guess the effect is akin to that of a duo fibre or stippling brush. It deposits the sheerest whisper of color on the skin, making you look like you're lit from within. If you have very pigmented blushes, try this brush and you will not have clown cheeks. It would also be a good brush to gently blend out blush or glow to make it look seamless on the face.

Chisel Detail Mini Brush

I don't know how I'd done makeup without this brush. It is very small, inconspicuous and dirt cheap, but it really does the job. I use this to apply highlighter on the inner corners of the eyes (tearducts). The very small head guarantees that you will be able to apply product precisely where you want it. This is also a great brush to apply eyeshadow or pigment on the lower lashline, and even to line the upper lashline. This has a wide variety of uses, so much so that I now have four in my stash. I think this is my favorite brush out of all the ones I'm featuring in this post.

Pink Oval Taklon Lip Brush

Another inexpensive but heavy-duty brush. I love the oval or cat-tongue shape, because it is very easy to control the product with this brush. I also like that the taklon bristles are short and stiff, because it allows you to apply the lip product precisely where you want it. If you are using a very bright red lipstick, a lip brush is almost always recommended to give the smoothest curves and lines. Essentially, a lip brush is almost always used regardless of the lipstick color if a flawless application of the product is desired. I believe this brush can deliver.

All in all, I really like these brushes, except for the nasty smell of some. It doesn't take much effort to deodorize them, though, so you might want to try these out. If you have very sensitive skin, I suggest you skip the Kabuki-on-a-stick, otherwise, this is a very good alternative to the MAC 109 or the Bare Escentuals' Handy Buki Brush. As for the Chisel Detail mini-brush, I haven't really found a brush similar to this, so I believe this is a must-have and of all the brushes I had just mentioned, this is my most favorite and I highly recommend it.

Look Using Coastal Scents 88 Warm Palette

Here's a look featuring the Coastal Scents Warm 88 Palette. I am pretty impressed with the colors. They were vibrant and the staying power was pretty good with a good base (I used MAC paint in Bare Canvas and paint pot in Perky). I am especially impressed with the lid and crease colors I used. As long as a good base is used, the pigment remained vibrant and the finish was pretty smooth on the lid. For the tutorial below, please refer to the picture above for particular shadows used.


I also used one of my favorite MAC beauty powder blushes, Joyous. True to its name, it's a very happy color and I really love how it perks up the complexion.


I also used Aromaleigh Drama Queen eyeliner in Copper for this look.

Here's a step-by-step illustration.


Apply MAC Bare Canvas paint all over lid and lower lashline. Using a fluffy shader brush, apply MAC Perky paint pot on lid.


Using Loew Cornell Maxine's Mop 3/8" shader brush (or the MAC 239), apply Shadow A on lid.


Using MAC 224, apply Shadow B on crease.


Using Sonia Kashuk blender brush, apply Shadow C on the outer V and to contour the crease. Blend the colors together using the 224 using windshield-wiper motions.




Using the Sonia Kashuk blender brush, apply more Shadow B and C to deepen the crease, then blend using the 224.


Using Stila No. 5 brush, apply Shadow D on the browbone to highlight.


Using Sonia Kashuk bent eyeliner, wet-line Aromaleigh Drama Queen eyeliner in Copper on upper lashline using MAC Charged Water.


Apply mascara. Using Coastal Scents mini-detail brush, apply Shadow A on inner lower lashline and Shadow C on outer lower lashline. Tightline and water-line using Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero.





Face:
Monistat gel as primer
Joppa Mineral foundation in Medium-Light 2.5
UD 24/7 pencil concealer on undereye area
Bare Escentuals Well Rested over UD 24/7
Aromleigh ultra resolution finishing powder in English Rose
MAC beauty powder blush in Joyous

Lips:
MAC lipliner in Whirl
MAC lipstick in Lightly Ripe
MAC lipglass in Virgin Kiss

Coastal Scents 88 Piece Warm Palette Review

My 88 Warm palette finally arrived and I was able to play around with the colors. I now have the Original 88 matte, the 88 Ultra Shimmer, the 28-piece Neutral and this new 88 Warm. I almost always reach for the Neutral palette over the others (although the Original 88 Matte is another favorite of mine), but I believe I would be reaching for this 88 Warm more often. Why? Quite simply, the colors in this palette are more wearable and office-friendly than the Original 88 Matte and 88 Ultra Sheer, and it has more plums and purple-based eyeshadows than the Neutral palette. Basically, the 88 Warm has the best of both worlds. That doesn't mean I will allow the other palettes to languish at the bottom of my dresser drawer, though. The Original has amazing shades that will work best for a fun night out in town or during weekends, or it may work for the office if a light hand is used. Same with the 88 Ultra Sheer. Right now, however, the focus is on the 88 Warm.

I tried the colors and I am now wearing the shadows from the 88 Warm for the second day in a row. The darker colors like the plums, browns, taupes are very pigmented, and they worked great as crease and outer V colors. I've been wearing them for 8 hours now, and yet they are still vibrant and had not creased at all. Of course, I used a good base like MAC Bare Canvas paint. I also used the light yellow-beige shade as a highlighter on the browbone, and it worked great. I have not tried the lid colors, though, because I used mineral shadows for the lid. Gauging from the performance of the highlighter and crease colors, though, this is a pretty good palette and will be a great addition to your makeup collection, especially if you are just starting to dabble with makeup and just want an inexpensive palette to practice with.

Personally, I really like the dark browns, bronzes, plums and coppers in this palette. The only downside I can see here however is that there are too many similar-colored highlighters. If you check the top left of the palette, the highlighter shades are too similar that it would have been best if they took out half a dozen of these identical shades and replaced them with more lid colors (pinks, khakis, light olives). I also heard from other reviews that the lid colors were kinda chalky. I haven't tried them yet, and will update this review as soon as I have. I will also post looks using this palette.

I just got a newsletter from Coastal Scents that most of their palette prices have been lowered, I believe all except this new 88 Warm one. This new one is exclusive to Coastal Scents, so they still peg the price at $24.95. The rest of the palettes are priced $18.95 and $19.95, and they offer free shipping for orders $50 and above within the continental United States.

I also got some brushes from Coastal Scents, so stay tuned for a review!

Peachy Neutrals Using Aromaleigh and Coastal Scents Mineral Shadows

The mineral shadow in the jar is Aromaleigh Rocks! in Rock Bottom

When I got one of my Coastal Scents orders a couple of months ago, I received a free mineral shadow sample in my package called Frenzy. I tried it and I was floored by how beautiful it was. To me, it was the perfect wash/lid color. I would almost always use it with my neutrals especially for work. I also loved how smooth it applied on the lid. When my sample runs out, I will make sure to get a full size of this.

I also used Aromaleigh mineral shadows that I really love because they remind me of MAC pigments- vibrant, pigmented, and apply like a dream on the lids. All products Aromaleigh unless otherwise stated.


Apply MAC Beige-ing shadestick all over lid, brows, and lower lashline. Smooth product on the lid with finger. Foil Coastal Scents' mineral shadow in Frenzy on the lid using MAC Charged Water and a stiff shader brush (Loew Cornell Maxine's Mop 3/8").


Using a fluffy shader brush, apply Hazelnut dry on the outer V.


Using same brush, apply Rock Bottom dry on the crease and outer V, blending into Hazelnut. Blend using the MAC 224 brush.


Apply Black Diamond dry on the very outer lid using Chanel #3 crease brush. Blend using the 224 brush. Using the big fluffy brush from Essence of Beauty, apply MAC eyeshadow in Rose Blanc on browbone to highlight. Line eyes using MAC Blacktrack fluidline. Apply Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero on waterline and tightline. Apply Rock Bottom on outer lashline. Apply Red Cherry falsies #1. Apply mascara.







Face:
Monistat gel as primer
Earthen Glow mineral foundation in Yuan Yuan
MAC Studio Sculpt concealer in NC20
Dayna's Rested mineral undereye concealer
Aromaleigh Ultra Resolution finishing powder in Translucent
Aromaleigh Gothic Lolita Rouge in Rococo as blush
MAC Refined Golden bronzer to contour

Lips:
Rimmel lipliner in Spice
MAC lipstick in Viva Glam VI Special Edition
MAC lipglass in En Pointe

Coastal Scents Contour and Blush Palette, and 10 Piece Professional Blush Palette

I just received the 6 Piece Contour and Blush palette, as well as the 10 Piece Professional Blush palette, both from Coastal Scents. I haven't tried them yet for looks, but I have swatched them on the cheeks and on my hand. Here are my initial thoughts:

First of all, I don't know why I bought these. They are pretty, alright, but I was not as thrilled when I received them as when I got the 28 Neutral and the 88 Original and 88 Shimmer palettes. I admit, though, they are very beautiful and they are such eye candy. Let's start off with the 6 Piece Contour and Blush palette.



This palette has been all over YouTube and other beauty blogs, and I have not heard/read anything but raves for this. I believe I like this palette more than the 10 Piece Professional Blush one. The shades are very wearable and the highlight colors are pretty universal. I don't think I would be able to use the highlighters much because I prefer my mineral glows and MAC mineralize skinfinishes as highlighters. If you don't have decent highlighters, though, this palette would be very useful for a wide variety of looks. Like everybody else, I will be using the middle bottom color for contouring purposes. As I said, I have not roadtested this yet, so I have yet to see if this is the same or better/inferior to other bronzers/contour shades that I've tried. I will be posting a follow-up review of these palettes. The other blush shades are pretty pigmented, and I love that these are freakin' HUGE because it's going to be so easy to swirl my brush on each shade.



I just noticed that Coastal Scents has printed a logo on the front cover of the palette, which I find a little odd considering that this is basically a generic blush/contour palette that you can find almost everywhere on Ebay. I know that these originated from China, and that Coastal Scents resells these. Maybe they just want to have their name on the front of the product to kind of advertise the fact that they do sell these palettes.



The 10 Piece Professional Blush palette is gorgeous, but unfortunately, some of these shades are much too sheer. Some of them are chalky as well, but some are really pigmented and they apply smoothly. The ultimate test is when I use the product for a look, so I reserve my final review for later. Right now, though, I am a little disappointed that I cannot wear all shades as some are very sheer. Also, I have so many blushes that can be dupes for these shades, so I am honestly at a loss why I even bought this. I might eventually have to re-sell or maybe give this away, as it really didn't thrill me as much as my other palettes did. I don't know; we'll see.

Stay tuned for the final reviews on these palettes.

Neutrals Using Coastal Scents and MAC

I am liking this look because I got to use a shadow that Coastal Scents sent with my order as a freebie, and dare I say it looked pretty. It's a loose mineral shadow called Frenzy that came in a rather big sample baggie, and the amount was quite generous. I foiled it on my lid using my MAC mixing medium and the 242 brush and I really love the the outcome. It is a marriage of peach and tan tones and the outcome is a beautiful wash color. I used MAC shadow in Handwritten (matte2) on the outer V and crease with Twinks worked into it using a blending brush (MAC 222 and Sonia Kashuk). I used MAC shadow in Neutral Pink to blend crease colors into the highlight color using the MAC 224 brush. To highlight, I used the very pretty Rose Blanc eyeshadow from MAC which I also got at the cosmetic company outlet. It is just gorgeous! I believe it's similar to Nylon but I'm liking Rose Blanc much better as it is less garish.








I used Almay liquid liner in Brown to line, and Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero to tightline and on waterline.







I used Lauress mineral foundation in 50-50 mix of Pure Yellow and Soft Yellow. I used DreamWorld creme topping (finishing powder) in Butterscotch (clay/silica formula).

For the cheeks, I used MAC Petalpoint blush using my beautiful MAC 136 brush (see previous entry on my review of this brush). I love the outcome as it made the product look soft on my cheeks. I contoured my cheeks using MAC Taupe blush with my 169 angled face brush.

For the lips, I used MAC Chintz On Chintz lipstick applied lightly with Splendid! lipglass from the Dame Edna collection. I just realized that I also have a mini-tube of Splendid! from the 2007 MAC Holiday Finery: 3 Coral Lips collection (the 2 lipsticks and 1 lipglass collection with a free mini-bag). I'm glad I have two of these babies as I am so enamored with the color and shine.

Coastal Scents Haul: Gel Liners, Unrefined Shea Butter, 28 Neutral Palette

I finally gave in to this 28-pc Neutral Palette from Coastal Scents after reading the many raves about it. I have a lot of neutral shadows, but since I wear more neutrals than wild colors especially at work, I'd thought of getting this anyway. I have a lot of similar-colored neutrals from MAC, but at less than $22, I couldn't go wrong with this. This little baby is also perfect for bridal work or for a special weekend out of town (just make sure you package it well!). When I swatched it, I noticed that some of the lighter colors were chalky, but I hope I can remedy that by adding a cream base underneath, like MAC's Soft Ochre paint pot. I have now completed the Coastal Scents eyeshadow palette triumverate (their best-known shadow palettes in my opinion): The 88-pc Matte, 88-pc Shimmer, and the 28-pc Neutral. I can't wait to try this new one out.


The darker colors in the palette are very pigmented, and even some of the lighter ones.





I also got four more gel liners to add to my first two (Truffle and Grape Vine) and four taklon angled eyeliner brushes. Sale Alert: Coastal Scents is having a Buy Two, Get One Free of these gel liners, so I just placed an order for three more: Peach Bellini, Silk White and 24K. My thoughts on these new gel liners: Two of these were buttery smooth and glided amazingly (Sexy Pink and Deep Plum), but the other two were drier and they didn't apply as smoothly as I'd wanted. The green and blue gel liners were a little dry and harder in consistency, so I had to apply the lines several times to swatch them properly. Here are the gel liner swatches:





Actually, just by looking at the swatches carefully, you'd notice that the pink and purple swatches appear more moist than the green and blue ones. I'm hoping I didn't get duds, and I am a bit disappointed that the consistency is not consistent in every jar (pun intended). For swatches of gel liners in Truffle and Grape Vine, click HERE.

As for the taklon angled eyeliner brushes, I am really loving them as the short, stiff angled head gives more control and enables me to line my eyes with ease and precision. The stiffer and shorter the head, in my experience, the easier it is to line. Also, for a buck or two a pop, these are amazingly affordable.



This is probably the best item in my haul. I bought this pound of unrefined shea butter for only $8. Eight bucks! Dang, how can you go wrong with that, especially after you check out the product. It came in a bag and the butter was actually a bit hard because it sat by our doorstep in chilly weather, but it quickly warmed in my hands. The scent is soooo addicting! It reminded me of white chocolate, both in the appearance and the scent, and when I read that chocolate companies often substitute shea butter for cocoa butter, it explained why the smell reminded me so much of white chocolate. It has a nutty but buttery scent that I really love.

Unrefined shea butter is better than the processed one because you retain the medicinal properties of the product, and I bought it because DH and my son suffer from terribly dry skin especially during winter. One application of this very emollient product on my hands made them super soft, supple and just moisturized. I applied it on my feet and heels and I am so amazed that it made my feet really soft to the touch and very moisturized, and eased my cracked heels. I used to love Burt's Bees Coconut Foot Cream, but I am a convert of the unrefined shea butter after this. Moreover, have you guys checked out how expensive a tube of shea butter hand or foot cream from L'occitane is compared to this? My good friend and co-worker swears by L'occitane's shea butter foot cream, but that's $25 for a 5.2 oz. of shea butter, and I got a pound for eight bucks. In this economy, I'd take the eight bucks anytime, especially since it works just as well or even better than the nicely packaged one. I will surely be back again to purchase more of the unrefined shea butter; this stuff is just amazing. Expensive skincare is not necessarily the best!

Coastal Scents Original and Shimmer 88 Palettes and Gel Liners: A Review

Okay, am I too late to join the 88 palette bandwagon? Well I finally got both the Original (which features matte and satin shadows) and Shimmer palettes. Even before I came home tonight, I knew they were by my front door because I checked the FedEx tracking number. Needless to say, I was very excited to get home. We live in a safe neighborhood and I've never had any of my packages stolen at the front door, but tonight I was a little concerned. LOL! Anyways, I found them and quickly unraveled the packaging and bubblewrap (it was very meticulously wrapped, so thanks CS!). My shadow palettes were perfect, not a shadow broken. I got the Shimmer palette in the matte casing so I can distinguish it from my Original palette that has that shiny patent leather-esque case. I love the matte case as it looks very similar to my MAC 15-pan palettes, so chic and stylish.

Okay, first impressions. Very colorful, definitely eye candy. Just by looking at it, I'm liking the Original better than the Shimmer, although I can't wait to come up with looks combining shadows from both palettes. I feel the Original shadows are better pigmented, have better depth and just look more sophisticated compared to the Shimmer ones. The Shimmer however is a definitely fun palette, with lots of amazing colors and shades to choose from. Both have, surprisingly, very good shadow quality. I know, I am a MAC and mineral shadow 'ho, so to admit that these very affordable palettes are good is quite a statement. I believe MAC still has the edge in terms of quality, though, because some of the colors from the 88 palettes can be chalky. But then, for the price, you get 88 shadows with better than average color pay-off. What more could you ask for?

Now the downside. I know they are tiny (a little smaller than a dime), but I only realized how small the amount is when I used the shadows for my look below. The shadows when new have a slight dome to them, now I just about flattened the yellow shadow I used on my lid. Really. I can probably finish the shadow in maybe five applications, especially if the shadow is a lid color as I literally pack them on the lid to show up. The crease colors however would probably last a while as I only use a very tiny amount in each look.


The Shimmer palette

Below is a look using shadows from the Original (matte/satin) palette as I was immediately drawn to this particular one. Since many of you know I am partial to green shadows, I just had to create a green look. I used MAC Beige-ing shadestick as base. The colors I used are indicated in the picture below.











I used Lauress Minimalist mineral foundation in Pure Yellow and Soft Yellow (50-50 mix), Aromaleigh ultra resolution finishing powder in Translucent, false eyelashes in Red Cherry #15, MAC blush in Enough Said from Red She Said collection. I used MAC lipstick in Rubia topped with MAC 3D glass in Lightswitch.





I got a couple of gel liners as well from Coastal Scents. I already have several MAC fluidlines and Indelible gel liners, so I just got two that I think I will be using quite often. Truffle reminds me so much of a chocolate cake's moist folds. It is so easy to apply and, just like a good slice of chocolate cake, the consistency is moist so you know this will just glide on your lids. Grape Vine is also smooth and glide like butter. Downside: these apply a bit sheer and you need several tries to make them opaque, unlike MAC fluidlines which give the richest hues in just one glide of the brush. These gel liners apply like a dream but are a bit lacking in the pigmentation department. However, a few tries would give deep, pigmented color, and for the price, this is a steal. The advantage of being sheer though is that you can build color. I also see this as great bases, just like paint pots, because of the sheerness in application.

Anyways, I am quite satisfied with my Coastal Scents purchase. Can't wait to do more looks using these.