Nic's Little World: sigma

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Even though I have a pretty decent make-up stash, last Summer I felt a need for a blue eyeliner.

I googled my eyes off, and the only things I could find were frosty/shimmery/glitter liquid eyeliners, and I'm a gel eyeliner kind of girl. Only blue gel eyeliners I stumbled upon were dark blue, and I wanted cobalt blue.

Luckily, there were some photos on the Internet that showed MAC makeup artists using just the kind of eyeliner I dreamed of on a model.

I waited and waited and it turned out that it will be a part of MAC Philip Treacy collection. As soon as the collection arrived at MAC Store in Zagreb, I went in and snatched my eyeliner.

At 160kn (24$; 3g/0.10oz) MAC Fluidline Royal Wink is the most expensive gel eyeliner I own, but I didn't care, because this blue is sooo pretty.

I went home, took gazillion of photos of untouched product and tried it on my eye without any eyeshadow or base and was extremely disappointed when I saw that it sucked. My first thought was: "OMG, I paid that much money for a jar of this sheer flaking crap?! Well, but at least the colour is pretty..."

The problem with it was that it went on really sheer and when I tried to add a second layer, the brush would pull the first layer and the line would be really patchy. When I tried to rub it off, it flaked really bad and it would fell off in patches.

A few days later, I was getting ready for work and I felt like the blue eyeliner would be perfect as a finishing touch. I was so relieved once I saw that when Royal Wink is applied on top of eyeshadow base and eyeshadow, it just glides on like any other eyeliner I own, which was amazing. Next thing I need to do is to pair it with blue mascara and see if I can handle the double blue awesomeness.

MAC Fluidline Royal Wink; one layer (left and middle), two layers (right)

I instantly fell in love with it and the only regret I have now is that I didn't get another one when it was in stock, as this is really unique gel liner.

My final verdict:

MAC Royal Wink is an amazing gel liner. It may not have the perfect formula, but if applied with the right brush it will provide a perfectly crisp matte cobalt blue winged line. I'm using a really fine nail art brush that allows me to create a perfectly thin line and gives me completely control over gel liner application.

For this post I wanted to use as many MAC products as I owned, so I chose MAC paint pot Painterly as eyeshadow base, and used Catrice Starlight expresso and Vanillaty Fair eyeshadow with L'Oreal False lash wings mascara. As always, I used Catrice Starlight expresso on my eyebrows. I also used Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum 51 as my foundation and Avon concealer for under-eye area. My current blush obsession is MAC The Perfect Cheek, and this look couldn't really go without it.

I wasn't really sure if I wanted the bright red, or deep, wine red for my lips, but I felt this was a job for MAC Diva, and Ruby Woo was left for some other time.

Here are my favourite brushes that I use for on everyday basis, and that I used for this look:

Left to right: Sigma F40 (blush), Sigma F80 (foundation), Ecotools angled brush (eyebrows), MAC 217 (eyeshadow), thin nail art brush (gel liner) and essence spooley brush (eyebrows).

The final look:

I wanted to snap a pic of me actually smiling and I felt so silly. It may seem that all of these photos were snapped effortlessly: click and it's there, but just imagine me kneeling near my bed, trying to catch the best lighting possible, while looking sideways to Ikea mirror on my bed, so I can see if the camera I'm holding in my left arm is actually focusing on my face and not my shoulder or the nightstand or something else around me. And I don't even want to start on my across the street neighbours who have the front row to crazy-lady-show (that means me as the crazy lady) who is spending half an hour with camera lens three centimetres from her eyeball (and if you check my instagram in a few hours, I will post a pic on how that actually looks like for me).

Ah, woes of the beauty blogger... *dramaticNicisdramatic*

Of course, I'm intentionally overreacting :D

I really like taking photos for blog, but I seriously need to invest in some kind of lighting rig, because this daylight is just not enough.

Lets get back to the topic of this post!

Do you like non-black gel eyeliners? Or do you prefer liquid ones?

Did you get anything form MAC Philip Treacy collection?

Please, tell me in comments :)

Love,

Nic

Hello, guys :)

As you already know, I've been a Sigma affiliate for a few months now.
A rep for Sigma contacted me and asked me if I would like to be a Sigma affiliate and offered me the Sigma F80 for a review.
I was a bit skeptic at first, but I decided to go for it, and eventually got the F80.

The only foundation I use is Revlon Colorstay Normal/Dry skin (150 Buff) and I used to apply it with Sigma F60. F60 is a part of Make me crazy kit, which I won at Nihrida's giveaway :)

Before I won the Make me crazy kit, I used to apply CS with my fingers or with a damp sponge. Considering my skin is dry, with very dry cheeks, these methods should be the best. Maybe they are when using some other foundation, but with Revlon CS they were a terrible choice, at least for me.
When I was finished applying it, my skin would look like I'm wearing a mask, foundation layers were too thick and it felt awful.
I completely gave up on CS until a month-ish ago, when I was watching Lisa Eldridge's tutorial in which she said you could still use foundation brush if you have dry skin, but you should be careful every time to "swipe" in the same direction, from the middle to the outer parts of your face.
I fell in love with CS+F60 because after I applied my foundation it looked really great. So great in fact, my boyfriend didn't even notice that I'm wearing any :D

But after I got F80...well, I've put everything in a chart below :D
(Your standard disclaimer: Sigma F80 brush was sent to me for a review by Sigma. All opinions are my own etc. )

Skin type: dry, very dry cheeks, with a slightly oily chin Revlon Colorstay Normal/Dry skin 150 Buff
Sigma F60 Foundation brush (damp)	Sigma F80 Flat top synthetic kabuki
It takes three times more foundation for the same level of coverage It leaves the brush lines which means you need to blend more which can irritate the skin and it takes more time to apply the foundation properly The brush is flat and a bit rigid, so to propery blend foundation with the skin, you neek to press it more and "paint" with it It doesn't absorb too much foundation, it's very easy to clean	It takes a small amount of foundation for good coverage It gives flawless, almost airbrushed skin, it leaves no marks or foundation spots The brush is very soft, it doesn't require you to press your skin more than necessary It doesn't absorb too much foundation, it's very easy to clean
After 4 hours of wear (no primer, no powder foundation)
Cheeks and forehead feel dry and a bit itchy Dry areas on my cheeks are visible	Cheeks feel just a tad dry, but it isn't really noticeable Dry areas are not visible
Final verdict:
I believe this brush would be great for someone who doesn't have dry skin. I thought it was perfect before I tried F80. As long as my F80 is in one piece, I don't intend to use F60.	F80 is soft and fluffy, and in the same time really firm. You can use light round movements and still get your foundation buffed into your skin. The result is a perfect airbrushed effect, not a single trace of foundation application is visible. It felt like I don't even have my foundation on.
Fun fact:
After applying Revlon CS with both brushes, I asked my boyfriend to say what part of my face is more natural looking (without visible foundation) without him knowing what part of my face is done with which brush. He picked the side done with F80, which makes it an ultimate winner in this showdown.

More pics of these brushes:

And now onto the giveaway part :)
Sigma was kind enough to provide additional F80 for a giveaway. Say "Hello" to a nice Sigma :D

These are the rules:

- you must be a visible follower via Google Friend Connect (1 point)

For additional entries:

- add me to your blogroll (1 point)
- add this giveaway to your blog sidebar or do a blog post and leave a link to your blog (1 point)
- tweet about my giveaway and tag me (@NicCharlie) (1 point)

- follow me on twitter (1 point)

Giveaway will end on 6.12.,which is St. Nicholas day (aka my name day :) ) at noon (GMT +1).

Giveaway is international, but please be advised that Sigma will ship the brush directly to the giveaway winner.
I guess that is all for now :)

All you have to do is to fill out this Google form:

GIVEAWAY CLOSED

Thank you for reading :*
Nic

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