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.

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!