Best wishes :)

 

A cup of soup :D

My favorite food isn't something fensy, but a simple, everyday tomato soup.

In cold winter days and nights there's nothing better to keep you warm. I don't like tea or cocoa, so for me a nice cup of soup is perfect.

Plain, with noodles or eggs, cold, or warm, I can eat it any time.

When I was little I use to eat it sweetened and that stuck to this day. So I alway have one serving sweetened, and one with pepper (I'm crazy, I know :D).

I alwas make this soup when someone has a cold. It quick to make, nourishing, and it's good warm or cold.


So here is the recipe if you like to try it:

1-2 medium sized onions
salt, pepper, sugar
tomato juice/concentrate
water
oil

I never use precise measurements when cooking, but you can hardly ruin this soup.

Chop onions in small pieces (I use food procesor). Put it in a pot. Add spoon of oil, and enough water to cover the onions. Add little salt. Cook the onions untill they go soft and disolve, if needed add water.Whe onions are cooked, add tomato juice/concentrate, and same amount of water and little sugar (1/2-1 spoon). Make sure it's not to thick, or to watery. Leave it to boil. Give it a taste and if needed add more salt, peper or sugar, to your liking.

If you want you can add noodles or eggs. When boiling just add eggs one at the time.

Enjoy :D


What is your favorite winter drink ?

The Book Depository

This would be a very quick random post :)

I love reading, but I rarely buy books since I don't have room for them, and it would be pricey since I read 2-3 book a week and in our contry books are quite expensive. That's why I prefer ebooks :D.

But there are some books that I love, and I can read them again and again, so I tend to buy those to have in my collection. Since I prefer them to be in their original language I usually buy them online.

Last year I discovered Book Depository and I no longer by books from Amazon.

They have whole range of books, everything from fiction,nonfiction, travel, science, DIY, children books. They also have some free ebooks :D.

Books are lot cheaper than amazon or ebay. There is no difference, usually you can find same books from same publishers, but cheaper on Book Depository.

They offer several currencies (pounds, euros, US, CAD, AUD, NZD, SGD dollar), and several options of payment: debit and credit cards and paypal.

Shipping is free worldwide. And delivery is rather fast,10 days in average. My last book arrived in 3 days :)

They'll have some fun offers from December 6th, so why not check them out. Book is always a creat gift, for your self or somebody else :D.

Do you like to read, and what are your favorite books?

Physician's Formula Airbrush kabuki, Ecotools smudge brush & RT powder brush review

Before I begin, just to mention that iherb.com has 10% off entire store as part of Black friday sale and offer will last till Tuesday, 27th.


Last month I bought some more brushes from iherb, so I gave them a good try and here is the review.


Physician's Formula, Inc., Mineral Wear, Airbrushing Kabuki Brush

 

As the name says, it's intended for mineral powders. But since bristles are synthetic, it can be used for liquid, cream or powders. It applies products fast and easy and gives airbrushed appearance.

Brush itself is small, light and compact (2,3 in tall, 2in in diameter), fits nicely in hand. Bristles are soft and very dense. If you press them, you can feel the resistance, they don't splay.
Brush is made out 2 pieces. Outer metalic blue shell, and inside the flat top kabuki. Outer shell actually keeps bristles from splaying, and gives them the short appearance. The shell and inside ferule are firmly glued together.

Brush is easy to clean and dries fast. It's best to dry it in upright position, on a flat apsorbing surface (paper towel, cloth).

Price: 10,51$ on iherb.com.

 

 

Outer shell, inside ferule

Ecotools smudge brush

I like ET brushes a lot. I have tried most of them and I was very pleased with them, both quality and pricewise.
I've been wanting this brush for a while. But  I'm not to happy with it.

As all ET brushes, bristles are synthetic, but not as soft as others. Brush has a pointed tip, unlike most pencil/smudge brushes, which is the biggest reason I bought it. Brush also has sharpener on the end, that can be closed, which is very handy.

Bristles are dense, but not very flexible. They can be little scratchy on sensetive eyes. It doesn't pick up shadow very well, so for less pigmented ES, you would need to repeat application several times.

Brush can be used for smudging, both pencil and eyeshadows, or it can be used for applying shadow in crease, outer V, or on lower lashes.

The sharpener is not glued very well to the brush, it can be removed easily, but it won't fall off by itself. It's tightly attached. I personaly like that. It's easier to clean the sharpener, and without the sharpener, brush fits in smaller bags.
Sharpener has a cap, and can be closed to keep shavings inside, untill thrown away.

Dimensions: total lenght of the brush 6,3in, bristle lenght 0,39in, sharpener 1,77in.

Price: 3,5$ on iherb.com.

sharpener with cap opened

sahrpener without cap



L to R: ES applied once; poorly pigmented ES, few applications; ES smudge; eyepencil smudged

Real Techniques powder brush

I actually got this brush by mistake, I ordered the wrong brush.
At first I wasn't too impressed, but more I use it  more I like it :)

Brush is rather big and bristles are dense but fluffy. It's padle shaped, even though it's so dense it looks almost round.

As all other RT brush, bristles are super soft plush taklon. It picks up a lot of product, and doesn't absorb any, all is transfed to skin. There is no fallout or it is minimum.

As all other individual brushes, it can stand on flat surfaces.

Price: 9.99$ on iherb.com

Ecotools powder brush, RT powder brush

RT powder brush, Ecotools powder brush

 Compared to ET powder brush, RT is fluffier but more denseat the same time. ET bristles are thin and silky, so they almost feel stuck together, densly packed.

RT powder brush, RT blush brush

Have you tried any of these brushes and waht you think of them :)

Beauty blenders

Everyone  is crazy about them, so I decided to give them a try.

I got fake versions to try them out before I splurge for original.

I got two different shapes from two sellers of ebay.

Pink one has original BB shape. I got it from this seller. Price was 2,99$, but I see now that they raised it to 9$.

Blue one has more practical shape. I got it from this seller for 1,54$ (I bid for it). Current price is 2,27$.

I soak them under running water, squeeze well, and repeat few times.  I tend to leave Pink BB to rest for few minutes, it becomes more soft, in comparison, when used right away.

As you can see, blue is little larger then pink one. It's also softer. Pink feels more dense and firmer, more elastic. Blue gets larger faster.

When they're wet difference is obvious. Blue is more fluffy, more spungy. And when you squeeze them, pink bouces back right away, and blue takes like a second to return to original shape.
Aslo, since pink BB is more dense, it doesn't absorb so much water and consequently it dries faster.

There is no difference in application of foundation, they both apply foundation fast, even and without streaks.

Pics:

Blue wet, pink dry

both dry

both wet

Monthly Favorites

It's a state holiday, and it pouring outside (few parts of the town are already flooded, and it's just a begining; it's going to rain all through fall/winter) so great time for a quick post :).

There isn't lot of them so this should be relatively short post.

Manhattan Soft Compact Powder

My shade is actually not in the picture (8 Vanilla) because I used it all up. I first bought the darkest shade (9 Chocholat)  by mistake, then I got the right shade (Vanilla). Few months later I got light shade (3 Beige) to mix with the darkest since it was too dark even during summer.

This is great inexpensive (drugstore) powder for oily skin. It's mattifying and it will kill all shine, so if you don't like flat looking skin, this is not powder for you.
It has light to medium coverage, depending how you apply it. It not cakey and it doesn't set in the lines and pores.
It can be used on it's own, or as a setting powder.
I use flat top brush or RT Expert Face brush to apply it.

Available in 7 shades and it contains 9g of product.


Vichy roll-on deodorant/antiperspirant

For sensetive/depilated skin.
I bought it recently after reading so many positive reviews.
The manufacturer claims it will genlty regulate sweating, and it's not a lie. It really stops you from sweating with first application. And I sweat.
It's odourless, non iritating and can be used right after depilation.
Since I got it, I completely stoped using all other deodorants/antipespirants.
It's alcohol and perfume free. And there are some version that are aluminum free.


Max Factor Eye Brightening Mascara

Colored mascara that should brighten and enhance your eye color. I got one for blue eyes, it's dark blue with subtle glitter, since I didn't like one for brown (my color) eyes (dark grey with silver glitter).
I can't say if it makes your eye color pop or not. I like it because it is a very good mascara.
It gives some lenght and volume to your lashes. Volume can be built up with few layers. It doesn't smudge, flake off, or clump your lashes together. Lashes are flexible, not brittle or stiff, seperated and evenly coated.
Also, once curled (with lash curler) they stay curled, they don't fall down with time (mine usually go down within few minutes of any mascara application, regular or waterproof).
It has medium size rubber wand, that's tappered at the end so you can easily coat even the tiniest lashes in the inner corner of the eye.
Formula isn't too wet, or too dry. Glitter is fine and it doesn't flake off.

Also, it doesn't dry to fast. I have mine for 2-3 months now and it's still good.

Available in 4 shades, for blue, green, brown and hazel eyes.
Contains  7.2 ml of product.


Deborah 24 ore Brow Pencil

Long lasting brow pencil. It stays on all day, even with light pespiration, unless you wipe it off :).
I have mine for few years now and I just bought new one, beacuse this one is becoming to short (and it's expiration date is close).
I have tried brow gels, powders, pencils and I always go back to this pencil.
My shade is 281. It seems little light for me (dark brown hair, mousy, dark grey brows) but it's perfect shade. My brows are very sparse and this pencil fills them in very naturally. Brows look enhanced but not overdrawn, or to emphasized. There no need to brush them through after.

Pencil is medium soft, and little dry, but it smoothes easily. Also is stays on the areas where there's no hair (some pencils don't  transfer at all, or too much).

Only downside is, it's not automatic, and it could use a mascara tip instead of this comb.

Available in 4 shades.

Here are the swatches:

Daylight, indoors.

Daylight, in front of a window

Too Faced Shadow Insurance

I just got this primer few months ago. I refused to buy it since UDPP was such a disapointment and I didn't want to waste more money.  I only  bought it because our Sephora was closing for good.
It is the one of the only two primers (the other) that actually work for me. It stops shadows from creasing or fading for few hours up to whole day.
True test will be during summer.


Real Techniques Expert Face brush

Since I got it, I only use this brush for entire face. You can read a review here.

Real Tehniques Expert Face Brush

I've been very busy latelly, so here's a quick review.

Recently I bought few more RT brushes from iherb (big surprise, right :D) and some others that I'll review once I give them a proper try.

If you had to have only one face brush, then this is the one. It a definitive must have.

It's small, but great 6in1 brush. You can use it for foundation (liquid, cream, powder), pressed/loose powders, bronzers, blushes, highlight and more.
It is specially great when you are in a rush, you just clean it off between products. I don't even bother with brush cleanser, just wipe it off on a clean paper towel or a tissue.

EFB is small, dense, more squared shaped, but rounded on top. Bristles are, as all RT brushes, super soft sintetic taklon, so it can be used for liquid, cream and powder products.

When used for liquid/cream foundation, it can be used as a  classic foundation brush (up-down, left/right strokes) or as a buffing brush (circular motions). It gives perfect airbrushed finish.

Since it's small, it can be used for contour, blush or bronzer (video, starts at 9th min). Simply apply and buff out if it to strong.

I use it as a powder brush as well to set my foundation. I just gently tap it on the face. There's no need for buffing. Powder doesn't look cakey or heavy.
As for highlight, use one end of the brush, don't dip entire brush in the product.


If you're considering buying Core set because you only want buffing and contour brush, just get EFB instead.

And here are the pictures:

RT Stippling brush, Expert Face brush

RT Stippling brush, Expert Face brush

Sephora #45 Mineral Foundation brush, RT Expert Face Brush

RT Expert Face Brush, Sephora #45 Mineral Foundation brush

RT EFB, Stippling, Blush, Powder

RT EFB, Stippling, Blush, Powder

RT EFB, Stippling, Blush, Powder

RT EFB, Stippling, Blush, Powder

Avon Color Trend Matte nail polishes

 

I finally found some time to do this quick post.

Today, I got my Avon order, and few nail polishes came with. I have gelled nails, but I still occasionally buy N/P that looks unusal or I like the color.
And Avon N/P are good quality and not too expensive. They go on nicely and evenly, they have good coverage and last rather long on nails.

I was so excited when I tried CT matte nailpolishes that I had to write a post right away.

What is so special about these N/P?
First, they look nothing like normal matte  N/P. They are actually shimmery, but matte at the same time. When I took them out of the box, my first thought was: In what universe is this matte :D. In the bottle and when aplied, they look like ordinary shimmery N/P, but once fully dry, they are matte.

They come in three shades, at least in our contry: Fuchia Feel, Soft Violet and my favorite, Blue Royale. Size is 8 ml/0,28 liq. oz.

As for coverage, Blue Royale gives nice coverage with one coat, but with two you get such nice deep color. The other two shades need two thin coates or one thicker.
I don't know how long they last on nails, but I was satisfied whith this line in past.

When you remove  N/P it goes down easy, no need for some crazy rubbing.

Without further ado, here are pictures. They are not the best, but swatches are true.

Soft Violet, Fuchsia Feel, Blue Royale



 2 coats: Fuchsia Feel, Soft Violet, Blue  Royale
 

Which one do you like best?


I also got this SpeedDry N/P in Smoky Plumes. Unfotunately it doesn't photograph well. The color is gorgeous  smokey darker mauve, name describes it perfectly :). I'll try to take a pic of a swatch few more times and add it later.
Here is how it looks in the bottle. The first pic is the closest to true color of N/P.

Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman

Mine, all mine :D

I trust everyone knows by now who Sam (Pixiwoo) is and that she has her own brush line.

I wanted this brushes since she launched them but UK prices were to steep for me.
Last month I discovered that RT brushes can be bought from  iherb.com at US prices. It's online drugstore. Best thing is they ship worldwide, and shipping is $6.
If you add a coupon code (OMU943) you get an instant $10 off your first purchase of $40 or more, or $5 off orders totaling less than $40.
Delivery is rather fast, 2 weeks to my country.

Note: By clicking on links above, code is automatically added, so there is no need for manual adding of the code.


Now, on to the brushes.

I already had stippling brush for a while. And I love it. It's without a doubt best stippling brush I tried. It's shorter and more dense then normal stippling brushes, and because of that, it can be used as stippling brush, or a buffing brush.
Also, it's not just for foundation, it can be used for all cream or powder products.

From iherb.com I got blush brush and starter set.

I haven't tried them yet thoroughly, so this is just first impressions.

UPDATE 08/27/2012
I finally got around to play with these lovelies and I'll just add review on the botom, instead of writing new post.


Blush brush

Soft and gentle rounded medium density brush, but firm enought not to splay or bend when applying products.

For me, little to big for blush, but I intended to use it for powders anyway.

Price on iherb.com: 7,99$

Ecotools powder brush, RT blush brush, Sephora #45 mineral foundation

Sephora #45mineral foundation, RT blush brush

Review:
I was plesantly supriesed with this brush. It is trully perfect blush brush :D. I don't have huge cheek space and pronounced cheek bones so I would never use large brush to apply blush because I would look like someone slapped me :). For me, perfect size blush brush would be ELF blush brush or RT contour brush, something I can use for precise application.

The whole point with this brush is how you use it. It's egg shaped, so you pick up blush only with the tip and that immedialely gives you control of application. It"s not to dense, but it picks up plenty of blush so don't go crazy, little goes a long way. Few gentle swirls is all you need and you can always build to desired intensity :).

I tend to hold the brushes at the ferule, for better control of presure. I apply blush with short, gentle strokes, and then if needed with circular motions disperse the blush further.

I have no doubt, this brush would work on any face shape, it just takes little practice to find the perfect way of application that works for you.


Starter set

I mostly wanted this set because of deluxe crease brush. And I'm not dissapointed :). Rest of the brushes, some I like, some not so much.

Price on iherb.com: 17,99$

Deluxe crease brush

Big, round and dense brush. As all the others, very soft and gentle. I will be using it for concealers only since it's too big for my crease.

Sigma E25, RT deluxe crease brush

Review:

Im very happy with this brush. It's great blending brush. If used for concealer, apply very small amount or you'll get streaks.

As an eyeshadow blender, works great for both powder and cream products. I like it for fast application of E/S all over the lid when I'm in a rush. Even though it's rather big brush, it can be used as blending brush on small/hooded eyes. It's merely matter of presure and position of brush. Use clean brush for blending, and only blend with tip of the brush.

Base shadow brush

Basic laydown brush. It's more flat, but dense and tappered at the top.

from the side

Sigma E25, RT Base shadow brush

Review:
Excelent base shadow brush, for appyling E/S all over the lid. Works great for both powder and cream products. When using powder E/S, it picks up plenty of product, and there is minimal fallout. It can be used as a crease/pencil brush, just use the tip for applying E/S. It may look large but it works fine for small eyes as well.


Accent brush

Tiny, dense brush. Perfect for detailed work.

RT accent brush, CS mini detailed brush

Sigma E25, RT accent brush, CS mini detailed brush

Review:
This brush is tiny and thin, which is great for detailed work, but I would like it  to be more dense. It can be used for smudging liner or E/S. It can also supstitute your liner brush since you get really thin, precise lines.

Diferent presure and brush position. First two are E/S, 3rd is gel liner

Pixel-point eyeliner brush

Simply to big for eyeliner brush. I prefer  more precise brushes. I guess I'll use this one as lip liner or for concealing.



RT pixel-point eyeliner brush, Inglot 23T liner, Alverde liner brush

RT pixel-point eyeliner brush, Avon lip liner

Sigma E25, RT pixel-point eyeliner brush

Review:
This was the biggest surprise. At first I was shocked by the size of the brush and never thought it can be used as liner brush (I was puzzled how Sam and Nic can do it), but clearly I was wrong :D.
You can get as thin and precise line as you like, it just takes little practise and steady hand.
The brush is rounded, but when you dip it in gel liner, bristles get nice and flat and thin. Great thing is, even though bristles are long, they don't bend or move, and there no need for presure, just light strokes.



Brush dipped in gel liner

various practise lines :)

Brow brush

Rather big. It's dense and firm, but not stiff. Bristles are flexible. I still have to try it out and see what will I use it for.



Ecotools liner brush, RT brow brush, Essence liner brush

Ecotools liner brush, RT brow brush, Essence liner brush

Sigma E25, RT brow brush

Review:
As a brow brush, it's great. As a liner  brush, for me personaly, to thick. As all other brushes, it picks up product rather well so you get quick results with minimum amount of work. It fills out brows, without making them look drawn on or unnatural. It's little tricky to get super thin ending but practice, practice, practice :D or you simply wipe off the excess.

Powder brow filler, gel liner; applied with light stroke

I apologize for the poor picture quality.

All brushes are in comparison with Sigma E25 (it was just washes so it looks little unkempt) so you can get better estimate of the size of the brushes.

I would definitely recomend these brushes to evereone, they are great quality and inexpensive. I intend to buy rest of them sooner or later :)