January 2015 Favorites | Beauty, Baby & Youtuber!

Hey everybody! Welcome back to my blog 🙂

I’ve compiled a little list of favorites that I’ve been enjoying in the month of January, and I’ve broken them down into categories: Favorite beauty products, baby, and favorite Youtuber. Let’s start off with beauty, since it has the most products.

Beauty:

Urban Decay De-Slick Spray– This is a product I fell in love with recently. I bought the mini size from Ulta, and I totally noticed a difference when I stopped wearing this and switched to the ELF Setting Spray. My eyebrow products were smearing and melting off, my foundation got splotchy in some places at the end of the day- that never happened when I was using the De-Slick. What gets me though, is the price point. I feel like it’s just so expensive for a bit of liquid mist. But I will probably end up going back to it because nothing works quite like it!

NARS Ita Brush– This is a cult favorite, raved about immensely, and I personally do think it’s worth the hype. It’s the perfect contour brush, and makes contouring such a breeze. I have been using it with the Anastasia Contour Kit, and they work so well together. It’s pretty foolproof, just go in with a powder contour shade horizontally, and blend vertically. I have a whole tutorial on contouring and highlighting including tips and tricks: Contouring & Highlight 101

Anastasia Brow Wiz– This was a holy grail product for me but one day, I ran out and didn’t repurchase it, and I have no idea why! I picked this up again recently at Ulta, and I am so happy that I did. I recommend this to anybody with sparse hairs to no eyebrows at all. If you use an extremely light hand, you can draw little strokes that mimic brow hairs. I use it in conjunction with the Dipbrow and Brow Powder and set with Anastasia’s Clear Brow Gel. My brows are some high maintenance ish. But it’s worth it! Kepp yo #browsonfleek. #browgamestrong

Tarte Smoldereyes in bronze agate- I have been using this to add a bit of intensity to my waterline and I find it’s the perfect dark shimmering shade that’s not too light nor too dark. Black can sometimes seem too dark in the waterline, and make my eyes appear smaller. So on days where I’m not going for a full-on smokey look, I like to run this onto my lower lash line and it’s perfect.

Sigma E44 brush– This is been my favorite eye brush for work in the crease. It’s very firm and the bristles are densely packed, and come to a pointed tip. It’s not fluffy like the Sigma E25 or MAC 217, but it adds precise color to the crease, and is firm enough to blend it out perfectly. I usually use fluffier brushes like the 217 to build up my darker crease shades, but I will use this to apply darker shadows right into my crease like an intense brown or black, and use it blend the shadow out slightly for the perfect amount of smokey-ness.

Tarte Tartelette Palette– I’m all about the shimmer, but sometimes you need a few matte dark crease colors. This is a staple, in my opinion, for any makeup lover. There are pale shades that range to dark purple, dark brown and a dark black, and every shade is matte. You can pick up any palette, and there will be shimmery, frosty shades, but how often do you see a completely matte palette? This is perfect to use in conjunction with one or two shimmery shades or a pigment you may want to add to seal the look together.

YSL Babydoll Mascara– Before this mascara, I had no idea how long my lashes could extend. This has taken them to a whole new level. I have the trial size and I’m definitely thinking of splurging for the full size because I just love it so much. I coat the front and back ends of my lashes and it brings the life out of them!

MAC Velvet Teddy lipstick– This is a lipstick I picked up not too long ago, review here. It’s the perfect pink/brown nude in my opinion. I love it so much! Some pinky nudes appear too cool-toned, or lean too much on the pinky side, but this one has the perfect amount of warm brown undertones to flatter my medium olive skin tone.

Smashbox Photofinish Primer (color correcting)- This primer is something I picked up in my recent Sephora haul and I was requested to do a review on it, which I can still do, but in a nutshell, this is amazing! It completely counteracts all the redness on my cheeks, nose, and chin, and mattifies the skin to a perfect, silky texture. I go on with foundation right after, and use moisturizer before. It mattifies my nose and no signs of redness peek through throughout the day. Love!

Baby:

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I couldn’t not include my little one, Alaska Rose, who is seven months on the 4th (yes, she’s a July 4th baby!) and she is beginning to crawl, and she’s siting up and everything! Moms out there know how I feel- I don’t want her to stop growing! She’s such a cutie. I’ve been dealing with some personal stuff lately, and just seeing her and caring for her reminds me how much she needs me, and how lucky I am to be her mommy.

It’s such a crazy connection, housing a baby in your tummy for 10 months, going through the struggles and the victories, and I’ve been breastfeeding her since she was born, so I’ve literally used every ounce of energy, nutrition, sweat, blood and tears to keep her happy and healthy. I love spending every day with her, and she’s been such an amazing baby. She’s a favorite every month! 🙂

(Follow my main Instagram account, @stay.positiff for tons and tons of Alaska pics!)

Youtuber:

Young Wild and Polished– Nicole is my all-time favorite Youtuber! I definitely watch a ton of Youtubers on a daily basis, but I she stuck out to me. I absolutely adore her personality, how honest she is, her passion, and she’s completely hilarious in all of her videos! She’s also super dedicated to her channel and reaching out to her subscribers, so anyone who comments or tries to talk to her doesn’t feel like they’re being ignored, she replies to pretty much everyone! She’s the only Youtuber I’ve loved so much that I’ve actually re-watched videos just because they were so funny, and lifted my spirits when I was having a bad day.

I even sent her a stuffed camel as a Christmas presents, because her subscribers are the “camel crew” (you’ll have to watch her videos to understand, lol!) She features him in her videand Instagram photos, and took him to IMATS LA! Here’s a few pictures of the ever so stunning Charles:

So, that’s it for this month! I hope you guys enjoyed this little behind the scenes of what I’ve been loving the past month, and feel free to share what you’ve been loving, whether it be beauty, clothes, people, songs, you name it! 🙂

Follow me on Instagram @stay.beautifful to keep up with my beauty posts, news, swatches and more if you’re interested, and I will catch you guys really soon! Leave me any requests in the comments if you have any, and I will be sure to do them for you.

Love,
Tiffany ❤

*Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored, there are no affiliate links, and all products mentioned were purchased by me with my own money! 🙂

My Favorite Face Products of the Moment!

Hey everybody! Happy Monday! I’m starting the week off by highlighting some of my absolute favorite face brushes that I have been loving so far. I haven’t been adding too many new products into my daily makeup routine for a good few months, and I really like the products I’m using at the moment for every area of my face. I hope to keep this post short and concise, but ha, when does that ever happen?

Here’s a picture of how my makeup usually turns out on a daily basis. I always try to go for a soft smokey eye, darker on the outer corner, brighter on the inner corners, and the intensity of smoke depends on my mood or how I want it to look. Sometimes it’s mainly browns and taupes, but recently I have been adding in some black or purple tones some days. For the rest of the face, I try to keep everything quite minimal. I do like a strong contour though, and I try to rosy up my cheeks with some blush, and normally a mauve/pink lip. For foundation, I like a medium amount of coverage, but enough to hide any blemishes or red spots. And brows of course- well, they speak for themselves. I like them to be thick and full, opposite of what they truly are. Shh.

So here are the products I’ve really been enjoying.

• Benefit Porefessional- I use this to mattify my t-zone and to reduce some pores. it keeps me matte and I like the feel of it. I’ve been using it for about two years now and love it!
• L’oreal Infallible Pro-Matte Foundation- I have a review for this coming soon and I love it! It’s new to the drugstore and gives me such an airbrushed, clean look to my skin and it feels so airy and lightweight its unbelievable.
• Maybelline Age Rewind Concealer in Neutralizer- This is the best under eye concealer hands down! It cancels out all under eye bags or circles and I set it with the Banana shade from Anastasia Beverly Hills’ Contour Kit.
• Maybelline Dream Matte Powder- This product is unfortunately discontinued but I love it- it gives my skin a wonderful matte look and adds a bit of coverage- just what I need to set my foundation for the whole day.
• Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Powder (Dark Brown), Dipbrow Pomade (Ebony), Brow Wiz (Dark Brown) and Clear Brow Gel- These are the essentials of my brow game. I use them with Anastasia’s #7 and #12 brushes, and they’ve revolutionized my brow game. I have a brow tutorial here!
• MAC Paint Pot in Soft Ochre- I use this to prime my lids every single day. It’s a cream product and it makes my eyeshadows go on so smoothly, and it makes them last all day. It would probably last for several days if I wanted it to!
• MakeupGeek eyeshadow single in Creme Brulee- This is my holy grail transition shade. It’s the perfect shade for my NC25-30 skintone and blends beautiful. The pigmentation is just perfect, and it helps my crease shadows blend effortlessly.
• Urban Decay Naked 1&2 Palettes- Urban Decay shadows can do no wrong, let me tell you. I use these palettes interchangeably in the mornings and they are must haves for me. The shadows blend so well and I love the shimmer shadows for my inner corners.
• Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette- I have to say it was my most loved palette for the past six or so months. I love it so much. The shadows are beautiful, it smells like chocolate, and they’re all shades I use! For brushes, I can’t live without the Sigma E35 and Morphe MB23 for applying outer V and crease shades, and E55 for applying shadow onto the lid. I use the E30 for my lower lash line, and the E70 to highlight underneath my brow bone with a shimmery shade.
• Anastasia Contour Kit- I love this kit to contour with. The shades are very universal, and there are different tones if you want a light contour or an extreme one, or you can mix them together to create unique shades. It comes with highlighting shades too, so you can really transform your face with this palette. I think it’s great for the value and I’ve been using it daily since I got it. I use the NARS Ita brush with this kit every day and it’s the perfect brush.
• Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blushes- I discovered these blushes in 2014 (better late than never!) and I’m obsessed with Captivating and Exposed. They really do last forever and give my cheeks such a nice flush. I use the Sigma F40 angled blush brush to apply it, and it’s the perfect size for my cheekbones.
• The Balm’s Mary Lou-Manizer- This highlight is out of this world! It’s so pigmented, blends beautifully and it looks so stunning on tops of your cheekbones. I haven’t used another highlighter since I’ve gotten it. I even got a trial size of the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector- I like this one more! I use the Sigma F35 for highlight, and I just apply it in a C-motion from my cheekbones up to my temples and it gives the perfect glow.
• Tweezerman Eyelash Curler- I have been using the Shu Uemera curler, but I didn’t like it after a while, so I picked this one up from Ulta and I’ve been loving it! With the primer and mascaras I use, the whole combination have been doing wonders for my lashes. It keeps my lashes curled until I take my makeup off.
• Lancome Faux Cils Primer- I love this lash primer! Tarte has one too that works almost as well, and I put it on everyday before my mascara, and it really lengthens my lashes.
• Urban Decay Cannonball Mascara- I put this on right after the primer, this is an extremely waterproof mascara and so it holds a curl like crazy. I apply it to hold up my lashes so well and gives them length too.
• YSL Babydoll Mascara- I apply this one after my Cannonball, and it adds length as well as volume. I love it so much. I discovered it towards the end of 2014, and it holds my lashes so well.
• MAC Brave- I discovered this lipstick lately but ever since, I have been wearing it every single day. I have a review for it on my blog- and I love it! It’s such a nice warm pink tone that matches every eye look.
• NYX Mauve lip liner- I use this to line my lips with pretty much every lip product I put on before. It’s a few shades darker than my natural lip color and adds such a nice mauve tone.
• Make Up For Ever Aqua liner in black- I use this to tightline every day and it lasts all day. It goes on so creamy and it’s such an intense black.
• Tarte Skinny Smoldereyes liner in Bronze Agate- I use this on my waterline everyday. I always like to smoke out my lower lash line and I love to line it with this bronze shade. It’s not as intense as the Make Up For Ever black liner, but it’s dark enough to add a smokey-ness to the look that brings out my brown eyes and the shadows.

I new it wasn’t going to be quick. But that’s okay, I would rather have it be detailed and informative! I really hope this post helped some of you and maybe opened your eyes to some new great products to try, or maybe some you just haven’t loved in a while!

Let me know if any of these products are your favorites as well, and I will catch you all very soon with a new post!
Tiffany ❤

How I Fill in my Eyebrows with Anastasia Beverly Hills Products!

Eyebrows have become a trend that has really taken off in 2014, and people have gone from thin, penciled in brows or no brows at all (like me) to voluminous, thick and healthy brows. I think Anastasia Beverly Hill’s products had a lot to do with it as well. Anastasia and her daughter Claudia (better known as Norvina) have really worked hard to promote their brand and have even come out with a cult favorite Contour Kit along with contour refills, and most recently, individual eyeshadows. But that’s for another post.

I highly highly recommend Anastasia’s products because she has such a wide array of shades and colors to match every undertone, hair color and skin tone. Check out her website for more information and to view her products. Anastasia products= #browgamestrong

So I compiled my daily brow essentials (in bold) and 4-step technique into this post for you guys. This is what I use every single day to fill in my brows. I maintain them by tweezing any excess hair with a Tweezerman tweezer. I don’t get them waxed, threaded, or anything like that. I keep them in their natural arch, and anything underneath or above, I will tweeze away. I have very sparse brows, so I love to fill them in on a daily basis so they frame my face as well as my eye looks.

1. I start by brushing out my brows by a spooly, and go in with Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Powder in Dark Brown with their #7 brush. I pick up the darker shade and underline the bottom of my brow, then slowly add more product to blend up to the top of the brow. I like the underline line to be sharper than the line at the top of my brow because it looks cleaner.

2. Then I use Anastasia’s Dipbrow Pomade in Ebony with their #12 brush to darken up the brow. TIP: wherever you place your brush first is where the most product will transfer. I place the product first near the arch, and I trace it down onto my tail. I create more of an arch, and slowly add product to thicken up the brow. You will want the darkest color and most product near your arch and tail, and less product and lighter color near the beginning of the brow so it creates a more natural, yet gradient effect.

3. Next, I use a generic flat concealer brush and Maybelline Fit Me concealer to clean up underneath the brow and around the edges for a clean look. TIP: Use a concealer lighter than your natural skin tone so the brow bone area looks highlighted and brightened.

4. Set with Anastasia’s Clear Brow Gel and you’re done!

Don’t be discouraged if your brows don’t turn out the way you want them to. It took me years to perfect these techniques and I am still learning every day. Perfection comes with practice, and even then, most brows are more like cousins, not twins! Just try your best and see what products work best for you.

I hope this little in-depth step-by-step helped some of you out, and if you have any questions feel free to leave them below! Also, if this wasn’t as informative as I wanted it to be and you would like a video, let me know! I have a short time-lapse brow tutorial on my Instagram, @stay.beautifful so feel free to check that out if you’d like. Have a great day and happy 2015!

My 2014 Beauty Favorites!

Hey everybody, Happy New Year!! I’m so excited that 2015 is finally here! I don’t even know why, I think I am happy to just get out of 2014, lol. But no really, it’s wonderful to see a new year, to reflect on all of my blessings, and to have a fresh start on everything in all aspects.

To hop on board the reflecting train, I wanted to do a little (probably not going to be little) overview of my favorite beauty products in the month of 2014. if you read my previous post, my 2014 Year Review, you will know that 2014 has been the year of beauty for me and I have delved into so many wonderful new products, brands, and have really submerged myself into the beauty community.

One of my New Year’s resolutions (not that I am particularly great at these) is to really make my Instagram (@stay.beautifful) and Youtube channel (youtube.com/secretminnie) flourish. I know that those are both platforms that aren’t necessarily easy to make a name on, but I enjoy talking and sharing videos and products, so I’m focusing on that, and we will see how it goes!

Now moving onto the actual reason of why you clicked on this post, let’s start the favorites! I’m starting from the first product(s) I put on my face from A to Z.

So, face primer… take it away!

Primer (Face): I have been obsessed with Benefit’s Porefessional for about two years now. I heard people rave about it and when I found it in my mom’s beauty stash a while ago, I decided to give it a go and I haven’t been able to put it down since. I use it mainly around my t-zone, so around my nose where I have lots of hormonal acne and redness, and on my forehead, and pores. I don’t use it as much for pore filling-in since I don’t really have visible pores, but I love it for mattifying my nose area.

Foundation: My most used would be Revlon’s Colorstay foundation, but I recently got my hands on the Loreal True Match foundation and I absolutely love how blendable it is, but I still haven’t gotten the shade quite right, so I can’t tell you exactly how well it does on my skin. So for now, I am sticking with the Colorstay. The longevity is great, it feels lightweight, and I absolutely love it. Highly recommend!

Concealer: I absolutely love the Maybelline Age Rewind Under Eye Concealer in “Light” for my under eyes. I use it every day! Sometimes I use the Lumi concealer over top to brighten up after Age Rewind has canceled out my bags. I also adore the Maybelline Fit me concealer for cleaning up around my brows when I fill them in. Unfortunately, I haven’t found the perfect blemish concealer though, so if you have any recommendations, please leave them down below!

Powder: I love the Maybelline Dream Matte powder, I believe it is now discontinued, so I am assuming not many people enjoyed it as much as I did, but I really loved it! I still have a bit left and I use it with a velour puff to set my makeup every day in my t-zone area. It sets my makeup and gives me a matte finish while also offering coverage. It’s the best. I don’t know what I will do when I hit pan! Another powder I use is the Banana shade from the Anastasia Contour Kit (review here), and I use that to set my under-eye concealer.

Brows: Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade in Ebony with the Brow Powder in Dark Brown, set with Anastasia Brow Gel. I use their brushes, #7 and #12. I have a post coming soon detailing my step-by-step eyebrow routine!

Primer (Eyes): Mac Soft Ochre Paint Pot. Never creases my eyeshadows, it left my eyeshadow on for over 24 hours once, and normally I wear my makeup all day, 12-14 hours or so, and it looks as if I just applied it at the end of the day. Love, love love LOVE.

Eyeshadows: 

(Palette) This will have to go to either my Naked palette, or my Lorac Pro. I would say Chocolate Bar, but I have only gotten it very recently, so I don’t know if that would be fair. But I love the Naked palette, and the Lorac. I love the neutral shades, I love the pigmentation in both palettes, and they’re just amazing. If you haven’t gotten your hands on it, which I don’t know why- you have to! At least swatch it. Recent loves are the Tarte Tartelette palette which is now available at Sephora and Ulta now! (Review here). As well as the Lorac Pro 2 and Naked 2.

(Eyeshadow duo) Nars Eyeshadow duo in Cordura. I can’t say enough good things about this, it’s pigmented, blendable, the colors work beautiful together- I can’t stop using it on my eyes! I literally have to peel it out of my hands each morning and force myself to branch out. Ah. Perfection!

(Single Eyeshadows) Makeupgeek! They are so inexpensive, and they are SO pigmented. They just came out with some Foiled Eyeshadows, and ugh. You need to get your hands on these, guys! It’s a must! I use Peach Smoothie as a transition shade every single day before I start my eye makeup application, no matter what look I am doing. I also love Maybelline’s Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze. When I wasn’t great at makeup, I would just swipe this all over the lid and I would be done. It’s so effortless, and looks so gorgeous on the lid.

Mascara: So my mascara application is a whole collection. Are we ready? So I curl with my Tweezerman eyelash curlers. I use Lancome’s XL Cils Booster as a primer, and use one coat. I then apply a few coats of Urban Decay’s Cannonball mascara so they hold the curl, then I have been going in with YSL’s Babydoll mascara, and will apply a few generous coats. After that, I will again and use Real Techniques’ brow/lash comb to separate the lashes. And va va voom lashes are at the ready.

Eyeliner: For my winged eyeliner, I will use nothing but Stila’s Stay All Day liquid liner. It truly does stay all day, it’s easy to get off, and it never smudges, cracks or fades throughout the day. No brainer. To tightline underneath my lashes, I use Make Up Forever’s Aqua Eyes in black and in my waterline, I use Tarte’s EmphasEYES liner in a shimmery bronze shade. All holy grail. All give me life. LIFE, PEOPLE. LIFE. Sorry. But a great drugstore alternative is Loreal’s Infallible felt tip liner, that one I used for so long and I love it! It’s a close second to Stila’s Stay All Day.

Bronzer: I flirted with Too Faced’s Chocolate Soleil in Dark Chocolate, Benefit’s Hoola, and The Balm’s Bahama Mama, but once I got my paws on to the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit, the heavens opened up, angels descended onto the Earth, and no other bronzer was thought of since then. It comes with six shades, three of which are meant for bronzer and contouring, and that is exactly what I do with them. It’s a beautiful romance. There is no orange or muddy tones in any of the shades, and they all blend like a dream.

Blush: This year, I finally discovered Tarte’s Amazonian Clay 12-hour blushes. I don’t know why it took me this long, but here I am. And mama is in love. I have quite a few including Exposed, Mirage, Captivating, Blushing Bride and a few others. I have been mixing Captivating and Blushing Bride which are a peachy pink tone, and a watermelon tone respectively. It lasts all day and I love the way it makes my cheeks look so flushed. You know, that just-got-out-of-the-cold pink flush. Yup, you know what I mean girl.

Highlight: The Balm’s Mary Lou-Manizer. Mary is where it’s at, people! She’s so pigmented and beautiful and when she catches the light, angels and babies sing from all corners of the universe. There’s nothing better! I use the Sigma F35 and just dab it in a C-motion from my cheekbones up to my temples and BOOM. You’re JLo. (Maybe not. But close.)

Lip Products:

(Lip scrub): Fresh Sugar Lip Scrub! I just grab a bit on my finger, scrub it on my lips, then apply Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment over top. All their products smell great, and makes my lips look pump and luscious. It really works! A more affordable option that works just as well is ELF’s Lip Exfoliator and this one even comes in a lipstick tube. And it’s only about $3!

(Lipstick): I have been adoring Maybelline’s Creamy Matte in Touch of Spice. It’s so pigmented and I hear it’s a dupe for MAC’s Twig, and I’ve been eyeing that one for a while. It’s love.

(Lip liner): NYX Mauve lip liner. I hear this one is a dupe for MAC’s Soar, and I haven’t been able to get my hands on that one seeing as it is sold out everywhere. I love to line my lips to give them a clean look, and this color is a my lips but better shade.

(Lip gloss): Gerard Cosmetics’ Nude lip gloss is where it’s at. It is a peachy-pink shade, and it looks stunning on everyone I’ve seen it on. I also love Nars’ Orgasm, I pop it in the center of my matte lip shades and I am obsessed with the way it looks.

Setting Spray: Urban Decay’s De-slick setting spray has prolonged the wear of my makeup for a while now, and I’m very happy with it. It definitely keeps the oil at bay while allowing my makeup to look flawless all day. All the heart eyes.

My Favorite Sigma Brushes [and their dupes]!

Hey guys! I picked up some new Sigma brushes pretty recently and were able to have my way with them, as well as a few brushes I’ve had for nearly a year now and still use daily. These are my absolute favorite brushes from Sigma, and some of them have made my makeup application a million times easier.

Disclaimer: I purchased all Sigma brushes with my own money, I am not a Sigma Affiliate and I do not receive any portion of earnings from them or anybody else due to this post. This is an honest review of my favorite brushes from Sigma as they are one of my favorite brands for makeup tools.

Sigma is a brand that was founded in 2008 and since then, has caused quite a stir in the beauty community. Makeup artists have raved on and on about their products, claiming several of their brushes have changed their lives, and they won’t go back to any of their previous makeup tools.

Let’s start with face brushes, shall we?

I’m reviewing from left to right, so the first brush pictured at the furthest left is the F80 Flat Kabuki. This retails for $24.00. If you haven’t heard of this brush, you have NOT watched enough Jaclyn Hill, my friend. This brush is simply divine for an even, seamless, cakeface-less application of liquid or cream product for all over the face. Before this brush, I was using the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush which is an amazing dupe for only $6.49.

I did enjoy using the Expert Face Brush, but sometimes I found if I wasn’t careful, I would leave foundation streaks or marks on my face and I would have to go over it again with the brush or a beauty blender to smooth it out. The F80 creates a flawless finish every time without having to apply heavy amounts of pressure on the face, and since it has synthetic bristles, the brush will take the product and transfer it directly onto your face without soaking any of it up into the brush. And since it is flat, it covers more area of your face and it makes it foolproof to get into the contour of your face like under the eyes, near your hairline and around your nose. If you choose to pick up only one (face) brush from Sigma, I would highly recommend this one.

The next face brush I love is the F05 Small Contour brush ($21.00). This brush has a rounded, dense top and is  designed to buff and blend out powder contour shades on the cheekbones and jawline. I use this specifically for blending out my contour. You only need a very light hand with this brush, and it does the job. I find that after I am done applying the product, there isn’t anything left on the brush, and if I needed to pick up a different shade, it wouldn’t get mixed in with the color I used before. The shape and size of this brush is perfect for getting right in the hollows of the cheeks for a chiseled look.

My dupe for the F05 is the Real Techniques Contour brush, found in the Real Techniques Core Collection ($13.19) which is a brush set that holds four essential brushes. The Contour Brush is similar to the F05 in the size, and has been raved about several times for people who want an affordable option that works just as well.

My third face brush is the F40 Large Angled Contour brush ($22.00). The F40 is an angled brush used to apply powder to the cheek or cheekbones. I love this brush to apply my blush because I feel that it fits into the apples of my cheeks perfectly, and provides just a sheer wash of color. It is fluffy enough to be able to blend the color out a little as well once applied. You could also use this brush to contour, and since it is angled, it would be easy to add color to the sides of your face and jawline.

A dupe for the F40 would be the Real Techniques Blush Brush ($7.19). It is very fluffy and extremely soft to the touch. The size of the brush is a bit large in size compared to other blush brushes, but just as long as you are careful, it applies color very well.

The last face brush I love from Sigma is the F35 Tapered Highlighter ($24.00). This applies powder highlighter so effortlessly you don’t even need to think about it. I use the Balm’s Mary Lou-Manizer for a iridescent shine on the tops of my cheekbones. I just tap the brush into my product and lightly tap it in a C-shape from my cheekbone up to my temples and it gives a beautiful precise placement of the shimmer, leaving me with a lit from within glow.

Sigma’s F35 dupe is the Elf Blush Brush ($3.00). The brush comes to a tapered end and it is a thicker brush, but applied highlighter exactly the same Sigma’s F35 would, but it just takes more blending to perfect. But, for $3, you can’t really go wrong!

Now, onto the eye brushes!

My first favorite brush is the E35 Tapered Blending brush ($16.00). A cult favorite from Sigma is the E40 Tapered Blending brush, but I find that it can be a bit floppy woppy sometimes when I go in to blend product, so the E35 is basically a fluffier version. I use this brush before any other when applying my eye makeup. I dip it into whatever transition shade I’m using and place it above my crease so that my eyeshadows have a bit of dimension to it, and it seals the look together very nicely.

A nice dupe for the E35 would be this very inexpensive brush from Morphe Brushes, the MB23 Round Blender brush. It’s tapered and fluff just like the E35 and works well to blend out any product. Plus, it’s only $5.95!

This brush is an essential I reach for to seal the deal at the end of each makeup look, and it is the E70 Medium Angled Shading brush. ($14.00). It is soft and angled for a soft application of color. I originally purchased this brush for my crease, thinking it would be good to place shadow before blending, but it was too big for my tiny eyes. I ended up using it one day for a brow highlight and I have never used another brush since. It fits absolutely perfect underneath my brow and all it takes is one swipe, and it adds a nice lift to my eyes and cleans up any extra shadow that may be out of place, and balances out the look between both my eyes.

A decent dupe for the E70 is the M325 Large Pro Angle Blender brush. It may not give as even of an application, but it will do the trick. And for $3.49, it’s definitely worth a try!

This next brush is the infamous E25 Blending ($14.00), a dupe itself to the Mac 217 brush which is known as the perfect eye blending brush. This brush is so soft and the bristles are placed strategically so that it can be used to pack color on when turned horizontally, and when going in on it’s side, it blends out color perfectly. I honestly own about five different versions of this brush because they come in handy so often when doing eye makeup, especially if you are incorporating several different shadows for your eye look. Sometimes if I want a very clean, precise blended look, I will use one to pack on color, another to blend the color out, a separate one to add a darker color, and a clean one to blend the entire thing out. You can’t go wrong with having this brush in your makeup collection and if you were to purchase one (eye) brush, I would really really recommend this one. You will not regret it!

A much more affordable dupe for the E25 is the Crown Brush Pro Blending Fluff. It is sold for $5 on the Crown Brush website, but the page doesn’t seem to want to load for me, so I have the Ebay page. The Crown brush is very similar to the Sigma one, both in side and blendability. Lustrelux, Instagram and Youtube Makeup Guru, raves about Crown Brushes all the time and let me tell you, her makeup is flawless so whatever she’s using, I trust that!

We’re hitting the home stretch! This is the last brush of my favorites but such a staple. It is the E55 Eye Shading brush. ($14.00) Everybody needs a brush to pack on shadow on their lid or in the crease. This brush effortlessly places and blends out the perfect amount of matte, shimmer or satin shades. This is a brush I have had for well over a year and it does not shed, the bristles are still very well intact and I use it everyday to place product on my lids. This is a must-have.

Now although I see the E55 as a must have, that doesn’t mean you need that specific brush. There are many great alternatives and dupes such as the Elf C Brush ($3.00), Real Techniques Shading Brush ($4.79), Sonia Kashuk Core Tools Brush ($6.99).

So that wraps it up for my favorite Sigma brushes and their dupes. I hope you guys enjoyed this post, leave me a comment below if there are any other brush reviews you would like me to do and I will get on it! Have an amazing rest of the week 🙂