In a previous haul post I mentioned my order from Makeup Geek. I’d been reading good things about the Makeup Geek eyeshadows, especially from Jangsara, who is extremely talented. Inspirational looks, but not for the everyday.
Couldn’t resist ordering some goodies when they had a discount during Valentine’s Day week! 
Clockwise from bottom left: Cocoa Bear, Shimma Shimma, Corrupt, Shimmermint, Unicorn, Razzleberry, Peacock
Chisel Shader Brush, Outer V Brush, Soft Dome Brush
It took a long time, plenty of research and some nerve to buy another MAC brush. Mind you, they’re madly expensive! The MAC 109 Small Contour Brush retails for an insane SGD67. I bought it online, of course, but still.
Before I got the MAC 109 Small Contour Brush, I tried using the MAC 168 Angled Contour Brush to contour my cheekbones, temples and jawline, as what I always see Marlena of MakeupGeek do to create shadows on the face.
But because my face is much smaller and I have absolutely no cheekbones even when I pucker up and do the ‘fish face’, I always ended up with muddy, blotchy cheeks that extended almost to my jawline, when all I wanted to do was contour under my cheekbones. The 168 just made the powder blush/bronzer go all over the place.
I kept thinking ‘Wow, I must really suck’ to be always doing a bad contouring job, but later realized I was merely using the wrong tool!
Bun Bun’s Makeup Tip: Don’t fret if you’re getting it wrong. Sometimes, it’s quite alright to blame it on the tool. Heh.
So began my quest of finding the right tool for the right job. I Googled ‘MAC 109 dupe’, but while it’s usually rather easy to find lists of dupes for other brushes, it seemed the MAC 109 was IRREPLACEABLE and UNDUPABLE.
WOAH.
It bit into my bones to be throwing money on yet another MAC face brush, but when you are reminded of how lasting they are, the initial hefty price tag hence divided over a long time period, you feel much better.
It’s an investment worth making. In the long run, you will save money by purchasing a high quality brush.
Let’s get to the part where I tell you why the MAC 109 Small Contour Brush is part of my daily makeup routine.
Made of natural hair, the MAC 109 is dense yet soft, making the application and blending of products very easy. MAC suggests using the 109 for contour powder products and that’s what I use it for.
The 109 face brush picks up the right amount of contouring product with its dense bristles and deposits it on the face where you want it. It also buffs out products nicely so you don’t have ugly stripes down the cheeks.
The thing I really like about the 109 is its precision, something I could never achieve with the 168 Large Angled Contour Brush (or any other brush in my makeup brush stash) even though it is highly recommended by many beauty gurus for contouring.
Bun Bun’s Makeup Tip: No two faces are created equal, so just because someone said a face brush is The Face Brush doesn’t mean you have to force yourself to use it.
(Just in case you’re wondering what that silly thing on my hair is, check out this post on the Hair Velcro Pad)
Konnichiwa my friends… Welcome to the sacred session of geisha makeup. Today we will learn how to whiten the face, apply red eyeshadow, contour the face, and get that famous red pout…
Hmmm? You’re asking how to create the bloodied side of my face? That wasn’t a creation, my dear…
*giggles in shrill laughter
LOL!
Okie. Ahem.
(Check out more pictures of my Halloween nights as a geisha here!)
2 weeks before, I didn’t have any idea what/who I wanted to be for Halloween this year.
My best friend and I went to check out some costume shops in Singapore with zero intention to rent any. We just wanted to get into the Halloween mood and see ourselves in weird costumes.
If there is one face brush I had to choose, and one brush only, to apply everything from foundation to contouring powder to bronzer to blush to highlight, it would be the Sigma F80 Flat Top Synthetic Kabuki Brush.
When I made the switch from compact foundation to liquid foundation (*ahem* powder accentuates fine lines. Signs of aging), I didn’t know how to apply liquid foundation properly. Recommendations included the use of fingers, makeup wedges, makeup the expensive MAC 187 and Beauty Blender.
I never liked applying liquid foundation with my fingers because firstly, how clean can your fingers get? Secondly, some liquid foundations take such effort to wash off! The Revlon Colorstay Liquid Foundation is one – it just makes the fingers and hand all oily and yucky. Lastly and most importantly, the use of fingers to apply liquid foundation never gave me that effect Sigma F80 has.
As for makeup wedges, I bought a pack of 20 and the remaining pack of 15 are still sitting there pretty, waiting for the day I will use them for… art and craft, maybe? They soak up so much liquid foundation product and leave little to apply on the skin! Disastrous! And they’re not exactly environmentally-friendly, what with all that disposable throwing away business, ya know~
I did a lot of research on the best brush to apply liquid foundation with, and it came down to 2 brushes – the MAC 187 Duo Fibre Brush (U$42.00) and the Sigma F80 Flat Top Synthetic Kabuki Brush (U$16.00).
Makeup brushes harbor plenty of bacteria from product residue, skin oils, dust, and old, oxidized colors. Imagine all that bacteria vacationing in the deep, dark ravines of the bristles, waiting to contaminate your skin!
It is therefore a good habit to deep clean your brushes at least once a week. I deep clean my brushes every weekend, which is considered normal for brushes used on your own skin.
I have professed my newfound adoration for the Daiso Detergent for Puff and Sponge in the previous article. Let’s continue with how exactly to get your makeup brushes from dirty to spotless in mere minutes!
Here are the steps for washing your gunk-filled makeup brushes with the Daiso Detergent!
