Clean your brushes! New use for a facial scrubber.

I really wanted to find the dupe in this post from My Women Stuff, but maybe I wasn't looking in the right area the last couple times I went.  I was actually looking in the beauty section.  This post from Elena Tsang actually reminded me that I did have a similar scrubber from Daiso that I could use.  I picked up a new one though to use strictly for cleaning brushes.

 Little bit of baby shampoo right on the scrubber

 Scrub, scrub, scrub!  And also scrub while rinsing. 

Definitely faster and cleaner feeling than just using my hand.  I did clean the face brushes and the dirtier eye brushes twice to make sure they were really clean.  Also, I can't rave enough about how great Real Techniques brushes.  They don't shed and dry in about 24 hours or less.  I always wipe the excess water from the brushes with a clean washcloth, then set them on the edge of my dresser to dry.  I would still like to find the egg shaped scrubber at Daiso or maybe I will give in and get the Brush Egg eventually, but for now, this face scrubber does the job!

EOTD: Red Earth Eyeshadow/Primer, Daiso Eyebrow Pencil, Lancome Cils Booster XL & Sephora Atomic Volume Mascara

All new products for this EOTD! I've been looking kind of rough due to illness and really didn't want to do a FOTD. Red Earth Eyeshadow duo & primer, Daiso Eyebrow Pencil, Lancome Cils Booster XL & Sephora Atomic Volume Mascara have made their way to this entry and I wanted to just showcase these items on their own without using any other products.

The Red Earth eyeshadow duo and primer were part of my Christmas prezzie from Ms. B. She noted that the colors were very pretty & the primer was good. I'm not sure about the colors since the back label didn't have the color names, but the shade on the left is a light golden champagne and the color on the right is a dark brown with flecks of gold and red. The primer is very light and blends smoothly on to my eyelid. I haven't gotten to test the wear of the primer since I'm just at home, but will revisit this compact to see how well this holds up during the day.

I actually wore this throughout dinner at home and did notice a bit of creasing. I'll have to try this again after washing and prepping my face. It is a great idea to put a primer along with shadows, so I'm hopeful that there will be better results!

I picked up this eyebrow pencil from Daiso for $2 after my cousin said it worked pretty well. Haha! We spent about an hour in Daiso buying JUNK one afternoon, but some of that junk turned into treasure! I've been using my Anastasia Brow Powder and Brow Gel faithfully for the past year, but what I like about this pencil is that its quick, easy and sets my brows nicely for only $2!

Here are all the products used below. I'll highlight the differences in pictures-

I smoothed the primer all over the lid & applied the champagne colored eyeshadow all over. I worked the dark brown shadow from the outer-v across the crease and contour, concentrating more of the color in the outer-v. I dabbed a little bit of the champagne in the inner corner of my eye and the middle of the lid. The flash washes out most of the details :\


Left brow au naturel.
Right brow filled in with Daiso Eyebrow Pencil. I used small, quick strokes to fill in my brow and used a spoolie to blend.

Left eye with only Sephora Atomic Volume Mascara. 2x coats on the upper and 1x coat on the lower.
I liked the results from this mascara. The wand had thin bristles that were easy to grab on to my lashes and build.

Right eye with Lancome Cils Booster XL + Sephora Atomic Volume Mascara. 2x coats of the Booster and Mascara and 1x coat on the lower.
I could really tell the difference the primer made! This created more volume without being too clumpy.

You can tell the difference that the Lancome Cils Booster XL makes by creating more noticeable volume in my lashes. While this isn't a product I would call necessary, this would be nice to use during nights out or special occasions when I'm too lazy apply falsies. While I am a pro at applying strip lashes, sometimes you just don't want to deal with it. I would really like to try some other primers to compare the difference.

Daiso Find - Face Washing Brush

I love Daiso! I was hoping to head up to the 2 story Daiso in Canada over the weekend, but the obvious blizzard conditions stopped our plans. *sigh* I found this face brush a few months back and wanted to give it a test try before I gave my review on it. I love it! I loved it so much that some of my lovelys got this in their presents as one of my favorite things. :p

Of course I picked the pink one!


Oh Engrish. Gotta love the English translations on Japanese products sometimes!


I haven't tried the facial massage listed on the 3rd picture. Looks pretty interesting and I kind of wonder if this will help tone and shape your face? Wishful thinking for $1.50!


Cute little nubbies massage your face like tiny little fingers! This is very non-abrasive and hopefully isn't too bad for your skin. I only use this about 2-3 times a week.


Those are my index and middle finger holding the brush.


I either put my facial foam directly on the brush or apply the cleanser on my face and follow up with the brush in circular motions.


Pinky out!

Daiso Nail Adventure

For $1.50 each, I picked up 3 sets of decorated nails from Daiso with the intention of wearing them when I go out. I was curious to see how these would wear if I applied them using nail glue versus the usual way I apply them, with nail tabs I purchased, also from Daiso. I got the great idea to do my nails at 2 AM when I was supposed to be on my way to bed! This particular set comes with 24 nails in varying sizes. Each tip has a corresponding size on the underside of the nail. First you want to lay out the nails and size them with your natural nail. While they won’t be a perfect fit, you can file them accordingly. These nails tend to run large, so every nail had to be filed. I removed the nail polish from my natural nail and cleaned my nails with rubbing alcohol. This cleans off any natural oils that may interfere with the adhesive and also disinfects your nail bed. The only nail glue I had around was regular nail glue. I am not too fond with the viscosity of this type of glue because it is too thin and can get messy! You can already see from the pictures that I ended up getting quite a bit of glue around my fingers. I even glued my finger to one nail that I had to rip off! Accckkk! This is why you don’t do your nails at 2 AM!


After applying all the nails, I put on 2 coats of OPI’s Princesses Rule and followed up with 2 coats of an acrylic top coat. They held up to sleeping, but it became a different story after I showered.


These nails are not thick and durable. Like the regular nail tips you get applied before a layer of acrylic goes on top, these are thin plastic and do not bear weight well. I checked my nails after showering and managed to crack most of them when I was shampooing and conditioning. I still kept them on for the day though. Haha! I think I will just use these nails for going out and use nail tabs. If you want to apply these nails with glue, I would suggest you use one that is of gel consistency. Also, filing these down to a more manageable length would maybe help to prevent them from splitting, but as previously mentioned, these are thin plastic and can break easily. The most annoying thing after this trial was the removal! I had to soak them off in acetone for about 10 minutes and it was messy, messy, messy!

Daiso Hauls!

I love Daiso! $1.50 for most of the items and you can find some of the most interesting and useless beauty items around. I'm all about stuff and for a buck fitty each, why not? LoL! I have 3 separate hauls here. The first one from Alderwood Mall and the other two from The Commons . I haven't been to the one in DT Seattle yet, but I will have to stop by sometime if I'm in the area. Cat tells me that there is a 5 story Daiso in Canada. So there next time we head to the 604.

Haul #1 Organizing box - to be used for organizing my Japanese style decorated nails and supplies, adhesive nail tabs which are super strong!, some simple decorated nails, a double ended lip brush and eye lashes!

When I picked up this brush, I thought it was just single ended.

But I was wrong! It was actually double ended!

There are 2 benefits to this lip brush - #1 you can use one for a light color and the other for a dark color. #2 each end is enclosed and won't get your make up bag dirty! Ms. B - you're gettin one of these honey!

I put on these nails using the tabs I bought and decided to check how well these wear and how strong the adhesive is. I didn't want to file them down on the sides just yet, so they were a little bit big here.

I slept in these overnight. Yes I did! And they stayed on! They don't look too bad either for being fakeys. I can have long nails again without the ravaging effects of acrylics. Plus doing make up with nails is just too difficult. These are just fun to have around when going out.

The eyelashes I picked up, I haven't tried all of them yet. For $1.50 I had to pick up a few different styles to try so it will be awhile until I try all of them. For the ones I have tried, if you cut and apply these correctly, they are great, but one of the drawbacks is that the boning is a pretty hard plastic that is quite noticeable. Unlike some lashes like Ardell’s Invisibands, these can be quite noticeable if you don’t follow up with a liner after you apply them. For the price I paid, they work well and I would definitely purchase this again!

Haul #2 another set of eyelashes, some baggies and eyelash glue.

The baggies I got for organizing little things. I'm a big ziploc fan and have bags within bags, within bags. Crazy I know. My Sissy is the same way and so is our Momma, so now you know where we get it from. :p The eyelash glue I grabbed for those nights out just in case any of my corners lift. It has a nice angled applicator to apply to the corner of your eyes. I would usually use a tootpick, but this method is probably better and safer. I wouldn't use this to apply my lashes. I'm an avid fan of Duo Surgical Adhesive - its the best! $8 from the MAC counter and well worth it. The lashes are a demi fit with criss cross pattern that might be a better fit since I usually end up cutting my lashes to fit.

Haul #3 cotton pads, black cotton swabs, stacking eyeshadow applicators and more nails

2 boxes with 80 pads each for only $1.50! I am paying almost $3 for Swisspers. I wanted to see if these would be good, inexpensive replacement. My rant with Swisspers is that the textured side pills when you're removing nail polish or applying toner.

The Clean Puffs are not as thick as Swisspers, but they are really soft. I tested these out while applying toner and I was happy to find out that they don't pill at all! What a good bargain!
There were some other cotton pads that I'm curious to try, but it will be awhile until I actually purchase any again.

Yes, I bought black cotton swabs! Haha! I won't show you any pics of me cleaning my ears with them. ;) I'm curious as to how dirty my ears really are. Acck. I guess these may be for people with really dirty ears that need reassurance that they got all the nasties out. Ehhh, I won't be needing these, so I may give these to someone who does. LoL!

I have seen a similar applicator like this on Sasa for only $3, but I found this at Daiso for only $1.50 and didn't have to pay shipping!

This is great for applying different colored shadows at a time. Double ended applicators may not be enough when you're working with several colors and plus this makes it mess free when traveling. Ms. B - you're gettin' one of these too! That's it for my spoilers for you. You'll just have to wait and see what else will be in your package. ^_^

And more nails. I liked how these were simple. I think I will put on a few coats of OPI's Princesses Rule to give it more pizzaz. I'm keeping my nails simple and plain for now because I'm in the process of interviewing and don't want to show my hooker nails just yet. LoL!