MakeupBug.com

I found these at Winners a few days ago! Pictured above: Gotta B’ Urban kabuki brush (with a blue tipped bristles) and Stila Lip Envy Silk Shimmer Lip Gloss Trio.

I was absolutely amazed to see Stila stuff at one of my local Winners stores.  I don’t have a Sephora store near me and Stila is kinda hard to get where I live, so I really lunged at this lip gloss trio when I saw it.  The sad thing is, it’s from a few seasons ago and these glosses don’t have names, but they’re beautiful anyway.  I checked Stila’s website for more information but the only Silk Shimmer Gloss they’re carrying is Kitten.  It retails for $22 and I got three of them for $9.99!  Plus they smell amazing and last a pretty long time.

I’ve been looking for a little kabuki brush for a while now and was considering getting the big bronzer kabuki from Ecotools but I found this little guy instead (for $6.99).  I haven’t really heard much about Gotta B’ Urban brushes except the fact that they’re good.  As far as I can tell the company doesn’t have a website and I can’t find any more info besides actual product reviews.  Either way, this is a really nice brush with ultra soft synthetic bristles, perfect for applying powder or mineral foundation!

Definitely run out to your local Winners store to see if they are carrying these products, they’re sooo worth checking out.

*Update: I just washed the kabuki brush – no shedding or color bleeding! 

Ok seriously, I got this mascara for $2.99.  That’s amazing! What’s really amazing is how great this mascara is…

Promise: “A ‘must have’ everyday beauty essential. Allows for the building of unlimited coats of mascara on the lashes, whilst maintaining perfect lash separation and definition, without clumping or sticking. Get ready for an eye opening experience!”

Availability: Everywhere – drugstore product!

Packaging: Pretty plain. But I think it suits the whole “basic mascara” thing it has going on, so I like it!

Formula: This is a really great defining mascara, and with a few coats you can build a nice amount of volume too.  The formula itself is a little watery, making application quicker than thicker mascaras you really have to work with.  Usually mascaras with a more watery consistency tend to clump after a few coats – but this one doesn’t!

Price: Normally less than $5!!  Craziness!

This is just a really nice product at a great price, I really can’t say it better than Rimmel already has in their claim. For being so great and so cheap, I’m giving Rimmel Extra Super Lash Mascara 5/5 stars!

Pros:

~Availability: New York Color products can be found practically anywhere. In fact, I bought this liner at my local Wal-Mart.

~Formula: The formula is awesome! Not to runny or thick, and very pigmented.

~Lasting power: For me, this liner lasts all day without flaking or smudging.  I’ve read about others having problems with this, but I haven’t found any.

~Brush: The super skinny brush makes it so easy to apply. Its long, thin, and flexible which makes application not only flawless, but really quick.

~Price: This is the best part: N.Y.C.’s Liquid Eyeliner is only $1.99 (USD). Seriously.

~Other good things: It’s fragrance-free and hypoallergenic.

Cons:

~None! I honestly can’t find anything wrong with this product!

New York Color’s Liquid Eyeliner gets 5/5 stars, it’s the overall best liquid liner I’ve tried!~

For the past few years around the holiday season, Urban Decay has released a “Best of Urban” gift set.  The most recent sets being Spandex and Baked (pictured above).  Each set comes with a full-sized Heavy Metal Liner, a full-sized eyeshadow, a travel-sized 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil, and a travel-sized Primer Potion.  Each set will run you about $32 USD.  So why am I bringing up last holiday season’s gift set?  Because I just bought one (Spandex) for $9.99 at Winners.  (Winners is like a Canadian version of T.J. Maxx or Marshalls for those who aren’t familiar).  Seriously, if you have a discount department store like this in your area, patrol it regularly for items like this.  The Winners near me just happens to carry Urban Decay, a brand who’s website doesn’t even ship to Canada!

Here’s a breakdown of what I got:

Heavy Metal Liner in Spandex: Super sparkly liner with rainbow glitter (the overall effect is mostly blue). Gorgeous! Regular price, $18.

Primer Potion: This is a cute travel size of one of my all-time favorite products.  It’s just an amazing eyeshadow primer that makes even the worst shadow vibrant and last all day.  This is a tiny travel size, but the regular bottle is $16.

Eyeshadow in Uzi: A really pigmented silver glitter shadow.  The packaging on Urban Decay’s single shadows is really cute; a metallic silver subway token-inspired pot.  Adorable! Regular price, $16.

24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Zero: Jet black and sily smooth, pretty much the perfect liner.  It definitely lives up to all the hype.  Again, this is a travel size, but the regular pencils are $17 each.

From left: Eyeshadow in Uzi, Heavy Metal Liner in Spandex, and 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Zero.

*My apologies for the swatch, it was late, so no natural light.  The 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil is a lot darker in person.

Next in my Bargain Finds Series are Elf brushes (two of them, specifically).  These brushes are amazing for the price and I definitely get what all the hype is about!

The eyeshadow brush is perfect for packing on the color and it’s rounded shape is great for shading the eyelid.

The “blending” brush is more of a crease brush in my opinion.  It can be used to blend obviously, but its shape is more small and pointed than shown in the photo above.  Thus, this brush is really useful for working a darker color into the crease or the outer V.

These brushes are very soft and shed minimally, so for just $1 dollar each that’s pretty amazing. Elf brushes are great for anyone who’s just starting out with makeup and looking for inexpensive yet quality tools.  Or even more seasoned makeup junkies looking for more brushes to add to their collection.

These brushes are available at Elf:  www.eyeslipsface.com. I recommend you check them out!

Next in the Bargain Finds Series: the Elf Eyebrow Kit!  Before I was introduced to this product, I was using an Annabelle Eyebrow Pencil, but I found it didn’t last all day, so I decided to try this.  I’ve had this product for a few months and I use it every single day.  It comes with two pans, one side with a powder and the other with a brow gel, and a little dual-ended brush.  There are three shades to choose from on the Elf website: light, medium, and dark (I use the dark one).  When applying the product, I first fill in my brows with the gel using the angled side of the brush, then I set the gel with the powder using the fluffy side of the brush.

This kit makes it very easy to groom and define your brows with everything you need in just one compact.  It lasts all day and is simple to use.  Oh, and did I mention it’s just $3? Elf’s Eyebrow Kit is definitely worth checking out!

Next in the Bargain Finds Series are NYX Ultra Pearl Mania Pigments.

‘

These little things are awesome!~  If you’re just starting to get into makeup and want to try loose pigments, or if you are looking for more colors to add to your collection, you should definitely check out these NYX pigments.  While the little containers are super tiny, they hold a surprisingly large amount of product!  I managed to completely fill 10g jars with each color (I have 24 of them) and still have some left over.  As the name suggeests, they are very pearly, so for those of you who like shimmery eyeshadow, these are perfect.  They go on very smoothly, can be applied dry or wet, the color is very buildable, and the pigmentation is great.  There’s also lots of colors to choose from, 30 in all.  But by far the best thing about this product is the price, at www.cherryculture.com you can get these little gems for $1.50 USD.  Crazy right?  Check them out today!~