Sigma Beauty -- BLACK FRIDAY (free-shipping worldwide)

As-salaam O Alaikum girls,

How are you all doing today?

I was not sure if I should make these posts for the next couple of days especially considering the situation all over the world for Muslims but then I thought, it is human nature to want to hear and read good stuff too to get over the bad things otherwise everyone would be suffering from depression, so I thought why not.. :)

Great news for all the girls who have been wanting to try Sigma Beauty products. This year Sigma is offering free shipping; domestic and international, for 2 days.. Yes you read correctly.. 2 DAYS = 48hours!!!

To avail this opportunity all you have to do is enter the code BF2012 at the time of checkout. One thing I should mention here is that the monthly 10% discount code, which is there on right side of my blog, is not applicable with Black Friday free shipping, so keep that in mind while shopping. You can only use one code at a time. You will get the free gift though on purchase of $30 or more. The sale will start on 22nd November at 12AM (Central Standard Time) and end on 23rd November at 12AM (Central Standard Time), so please check your time-zones accordingly before placing the orders.

So what are you waiting for? Go splurge here.. ;)

As for me.. Am thinking about it since I recently splurged and I usually keep myself on a tight budget.. May be I will convince my hubby to order for me.. *evil grin*

Till next time..

Take care and have a great day.. :D

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REVLON shade Sheer Peach

As-salaam O Alaikum all you beauties out there or just lurkers like me.. *winks*

For nail of the day post, today I want to show you a Revlon shade Sheer Peach. I got this shade totally by fluke. My mom had asked my aunt in UK for a Peachy shade (pretty shade which is pigmented). My aunt misunderstood and got this sheer one. Since my mom does not like sheer polishes, I took it. *wicked grin*

Now about the shade. This is a really really sheer shade. One coat will give a transparent look which slight shimmer and gloss if you look closely. The shade in the pictures is coming out to be very bad for some reason but otherwise it is a fresh shade perfect for manicure or people who like sheer polishes. The brush is again thin, similar to Sweet Touch's so it takes two-three swipes to cover the whole nail. I noticed that when I tried layering this shade, it became patchy looking giving a yellow patchy stain look though only if you look closely. From far it looks really nice but since my hands are usually in my line of vision, I do not like putting it on that much. Another reason, I do not really like completely sheer shades myself. LoL. Now on to the pictures. (Again, please excuse the quality of the pics. Most are taken at night though I did manage to get one nice one during the day time.

The pinky finger-nail has one coat while the rest of the nails have two coats.

Daytime

Daytime

As mentioned in the under the picture, I only put on one coat on my pinky finger. I did this so you can see the difference. Do you see the patchiness in others? Even after soo many pictures I could show the actual shade which looks better in real. If you guys like it, then go to the Revlon counter and swatch it first (though I do not know if this shade is still in the range). May be what did not do for me will work for you. :)

Well this is it for now. Let me know what you think of this NOTD. Would love to hear feedback from you guys.

Till next time.

Take care. :)

Neutrogena Healthy Defense Daily Moisturizer

As-salaam O Alaikum girls!

How are you all doing today? How was the long weekend and Eid? Had loads of meaty food or just mingling with friends and family?

My first day was very tiring and next two days I was just sleeping. Wanted to do an EOTD but I forgot to take the pics when I got ready. I did take a couple when we were back at night but not as good as freshly done make-up. I just might post it. Lets see.

For today I would like to continue the review on Neutrogena Healthy Defense daily moisturizer which as I mentioned in my previous post, got it as a freebie with Neutrogena Wave during its promotion sales.

Have you guys ever used Neutrogena moisturizers? I had used one before and it was a huge disappointment. This was Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture which came in a bottle. I am posting the picture of the bottle and a swatch of the moisturizer.

Nope I did take this swatch on my hand. The reason being, all Neutrogena moisturizers have a strong smell. I do not know how to describe it. Something like baby powderish I guess. It stays all day long. The smell I get used to when it is one the face but hands is another matter. Anyways, this particular moisturizer did not suit me at all. It left me greasy everytime I put it on whether my skin is oily or dry (I have combination, extremely oily and greasy in summers while very dry in winters, same areas.) It felt heavy and honestly my face looked dirty whenever I put it on making blackheads visible etc. Due to this I was not very keen on trying the new moisturizer but then I thought why not give it a try. I am sooo glad I did. First take a look at the box, ingredients etc and then I will tell you my opinion (sorry about the picture quality.. usually I find time at night to do this stuff soo pictures are accordingly and I do not have a really good camera.)

Like the previous one, this moisturizer also has a strong smell to it but am willing to put up with it because it is really nice. I used it in summers and it hardly felt greasy. In fact it easily blended in leaving a satiny look. I usually just apply setting powder on my face to minimize sweaty oily look when in a hurry. It works great under foundations too. Making the foundation application easy. In winters it made my dry patches a little more patchy so I put on more then regular amount to moisturize them. It has spf 30 using Helioplex protection which is a plus especially for the summers. I found the following description of Helioplex on wikipedia:

Helioplex is a formulation of broad-spectrum ultraviolet (UVA and UVB) skin protection containing avobenzone and oxybenzone made by Neutrogena.

Avobenzone-containing products have decreasing efficiency after a few hours of sun exposure, but the addition of oxybenzone reduces the amount of degradation that occurs.^[1]

Aveeno advertises its products using this formulation under a different name of "Active Photobarrier Complex."

Interesting huh? To read more about what it says on the box itself, try enlarging the picture. I tried my best to make it readable. A very small amount is enough for the whole face. If you put on a lot, yes it will make the face look greasy after a while.

Would I recommend it? Yes except for girls with very dry skin. Will I buy it again? Since I rarely go out in the sun so my tube is still half full but when I run out, yep I will definately buy it again unless something better comes along. ;) It is also non-comodogenic so it will be suitable for acne prone skin. Suited me at least. I think this is easily available in stores which carry Neutrogena brand.

If you have already used it or heard about it do let me know. I would love to hear from you all. It is getting a bit boring talking to myself. Don't you think? *winks*

Till my next post..

Take care!

Neutrogena Wave

As-salaam O Alaikum all you lovely girls out there,

How was your day? Busy doing last minute chand raat shopping or already celebrated Eid in your country?

I was planning on doing this post last night but for some reason my internet went nuts and stopped working so I gave up. And today I was so busy with house-work and needing to get the groceries in for Eid that I did not get time. In fact I wanted to put on mehndi right now but feel too tired to do it. :(

Anyway today's post is on Neutrogena Wave. It is an original vibrating power cleanser. I got it last year when there was a Neutrogena deal going on. They were giving Neutrogena Wave with a new launch at that time, Neutrogena Healthy Defense daily moisturizer with helioplex.

I will be reviewing Neutrogena Healthy Defense in a separate post. Now about the wave. They say, "Wave hello to softer skin!". According to the cover, this cleanser is clinically proven to be superior to regular cleansing in 2 ways:

• Gentle vibrations clean your skin about 10 times deeper to remove oil, dirt and make-up.
• It also smoothes away dead skin cells, leaving your skin softer and smoother.

Further more they also claim this cleanser to be so gentle, you can use it daily. Does it do all that? Well first check the pictures and all that the box has to say before I move on to my opinion.

Removable lid on which the foaming pad is attached.

Close-up of the lid

The first time I used it, my skin felt smoother but very tight and stretchy. I have combination skin which get very dry in winters and those same areas are greasy and oily in summers. Since I was trying this in winters, I thought it might be because of my skin. I did not use it daily but occasionally. Then came the humid weather and I tried it again. Pretty much same effect but slightly less stretchy feeling. Did it help with dead skin, black & white heads? Not exactly. May be if I used daily for a month but I doubt it. I did use daily for several days then I switched to alternate days. Another reason might be that in the stores here, I could only find Deep Cleansing Foaming Pads and not the other two specified in the brochure: Gentle Exfoliating Pads and Shine-free Blemish-free Pads, which I feel would have been more suitable for the problem I was facing at that time. I did find them on Just4Girls.pk but the price was a tab bit more then I wanted to spend on them.

Now I have the machine, I sometimes deep cleanse and keep an eye out for the other types of pads being available here in Pakistan. Till then I make do with this. It does help clean up a bit when the skin feels too dirty and greasy. It also does make the skin feel smoother and a tad bit softer. Do try it out. It might be more effective on your skin then mine but I would not recommend this to girls with too dry skin. I got it for around 1300 PKR last year. It might be a bit cheaper now.. or may be not. This is available in Hyperstar in Dolmen City Mall. I got it from Forum. Not sure about other places but am pretty sure it will be available. It is a long term investment. *winks*

If you already have used it, let me know what you think of this product.

Till next time.. Have a very nice meaty Eid..

Take care..

Sigma Beauty -- New Arrivals

As-salaam O Alaikum all you pretty girls out there,

How are you all doing? :)

Firstly I would like to say, "HAJJ MUBARAK to all the people who were lucky enough to go this year". A very happy Eid Mubarak to everyone else. :D

I was just surfing through emails and the internet and I stumbled upon the Sigma Beauty website. Then I realized it has been really long since I posted anything about them. Do you know in the past couple of months they have released a Beauty Expert - Brow Design Kit? (pssstt.. A sneak news, they will also be launching eye-shadow primers soon.. If you check their Fall Look-Book, you will see a sneak preview of their result)

One thing I know is that this fall, heavy, luscious, enhanced brows are the make-up trend. So how perfect is this release? It has practically everything required to make the perfect brows; tweezers, scissors, eye-brow shapes stencil, pencils, brushes, brow shadows, sharpener, etc. Now I won't be posting all the pictures. Just the main picture. Rest you can check here.

It sometimes makes me wonder who decides the fashion and make-up trends? Do all the designers, brands and marketing companies sit together and discuss before working on the collections? Because seriously, the trend is just spreading out and they are already releasing the related stuff. May be a big strategy behind it all. LoL. But that is straying from the topic.

Now apart from the Brow design kit the new items which attract me are the Extravaganza Face Kit and the Extravaganza Complete Kit. They look soooo luxurious and gorgeous that I want them!! The top of my wishlist.

Aren't they tempting?? The Extravaganza Face Kit contains four essential luxurious brushes while the Extravaganza Complete Kit contains 29 of Sigma Beauty's best selling brushes. Everything you can possibly require. To check more pics, price and other details for face kit you can go here and for complete kit here.

If you want to check out other stuff in new arrivals, you can go here. There are also some really cute mirrors and make-up bags on sale on the website. To check them out you can go here.

Do I own any of the above mentioned items? No. Do I want to? Well definitely a huge yes for the Extravaganza kits and a may be for the Brow kit (am not really a brow making person). Also, to be very honest, these are pretty costly items so I am saving for them. May be soon I will buy them unless something better comes along. *winks*

What about you guys? Which item will you go for? Are you a brow person? Have you used any of this stuff? Would love to hear from you guys.

Until next time.

Take Care you all.

p.s. You have last five days to take advantage of the 10% off discount on the total. The code is on the banner on your left in case you do end up splurging. *wicked grin*

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links

Luscious Cosmetics 12pc Deluxe Diva Brush Set

As-salaam O Alaikum Girls,

Today I will review the Luscious Cosmetics 12pc Deluxe Diva Brush Set. I got this brush set back in February so I have been using it for the past 8 months almost.

So do you think this would qualify an honest review?? ;)

LoL. Anyways, to the review now.

What Luscious Cosmetics have to say about their make-up Deluxe Diva Brush Set:

A deluxe, twelve-piece brush collection for the diva who’s got to have it all. This brush set includes 12 luxury brushes for creating a professional, polished makeup application. It includes a face powder brush, a blush brush, a lip brush, a brow brush, a concealer brush, and seven professional eyeshadow brushes. This set comes with its own luxurious faux leather carrying case.
These high quality brushes have sleek handles and top high-quality synthetic and natural hair.

Luscious makeup brushes are 100% cruelty free and are made from high-quality synthetic and natural hair.

The carry case the brushes come in.

Inside the leather carry case

The Leather Carry case for the brushes is really nice and handy. Since the purses/bags nowadays being used by girls are pretty spacious, you can even carry these brushes around easily (not for small sized purses). I usually am able to easily take it with me whenever I go to stay at my mom's place for a couple of days (without extra baggage). The only negative issue with the carry case is that since I live near the sea, my pouch has started to get white patches on it (like you usually get on leather stuff). I have to keep it covered for time being. Need to polish it soon. Now the brushes.

Brushes Close-up

Brushes Close-up

Sorry I could not take close-ups of brushes individually. My camera is not too good. You can check the individual brushes pictures on Luscious Cosmetics website, here.  The brushes are all individually wrapped in a plastic cover for added protection, as you can see in the pictures. Below are the brushes names which come in this set and my opinion about each of them:

ANGLED EYEBROW BRUSH: This seems to be a very nice brush but since I have no use for it, it is still in its packing. It has very soft, slightly firm bristles. I rarely make eye-brows (I know it looks nice on complete make-up but am too lazy to do.. working on it nowadays). Sometimes when I do make them I use a brush and comb eyebrow duo (no brand, randomly picked from a cosmetic shop).

ANGLED LIP BRUSH: This is a firm small angled brush. Again I do not use the lip brush to apply lip sticks. This is sealed too. I apply lipsticks directly and most of the glosses I have are either in a tube or with an applicator. Maybe one of these days I just might try it.

EYELINER BRUSH: Again very soft and slightly firm bristles. I usually use pencil or liquid eye-liners so never required this. Though I did use it a couple of times to apply cream shadow. It picked up the shadow beautifully but unfortunately the quality of my cream shadow was not too good to stick to my eyes in a beautiful line. The brush itself is soft and perfect to use as a liner. Not too harsh for eyes. I also sometimes use it for applying shadow to my lower lids.

SMUDGE BRUSH: This is my least favorite brush. I found it too harsh for smudging. Whenever I tried, it scratched my skin a little. I also did not like the smudging it did. I felt it took away too much product leaving some areas showing skin instead of shadow.

PENCIL BRUSH: This brush is slightly bigger then shown in the picture on the website and a bit more fluffy. I usually use this brush for smudging and blending around the corners of the eyes. I found the bristles of this brush slightly harsher as compared to other brushes.

SHADER BRUSH: This is a very soft brush. I usually use it for putting shadow on my lower lid and for outer corner of the eye. I find it to be too flexible for precise lines so using it already gives a bit blended, smudged look. It nicely picks up enough product to get the initial shadow on.

FLAT ROUNDED EYESHADOW BRUSH: This brush is very stiff and comparatively bigger then shown in the picture on the website. The bristles are very soft though. I am posting the picture of this brush so you guys can get an idea. Due to its size and stiffness I have hardly used this brush. My lid is small so my go to brush for applying the shadow on the lid is the Fluff Brush. Sorry for the picture quality.

Flat Rounded Eye-Shadow Brush

MEDIUM TAPERED EYESHADOW BRUSH: This brush had me a bit confused. The one shown on the website is not at all similar to the brush I got and since it was the only odd one out, I am assuming its the same brush. This is almost the same size as Flat Rounded Eye-Shadow brush but much softer, flexible and angled. I use this for my crease blending especially when I am in a hurry. It easily swipes from crease to half of brow bone. Sometimes the bristles feel a little sharp and irritate (as in pointy while applying) but not too much. I am posting its picture too so you can see for yourself. :)

Medium Tapered Eye-Shadow Brush

FLUFF BRUSH: This is my go to brush. Whenever I am in a hurry (which I usually am), I just take it out, swipe the shadow I want and pat it on my lid. After I have put on the desired amount, I use this same brush for blending it out all over the lid.  Its picks up the product beautifully and usually does not require me to do more then two swipes (also it depends on the quality of your eye-shadows too i.e. how soft and pigmented they are). Due to my abuse of this brush, the bristles are now getting a little too scratchy. Will have to figure something out to soften them again. There may be another reason for the brushes getting so scratchy. Will let you know in the end.

EYESHADOW BLENDING BRUSH: I absolutely love this brush!!! I use it for blending, for applying shadow on my brow bone and for removing shadow fall outs from under my eyes. This is a lovely soft, bristly brush which picks up a lot of product in a single swipe and blends it in beautifully. Love it!!!

BLUSH BRUSH: Another one of my favorite brushes. This is one of my must haves at all times. Picks a generous amount of product. Blends beautifully. I use it for applying blushes, contouring and highlighting.

FACE POWDER BRUSH: A very soft, fluffy brush. Amazing for applying face powder all over the face and blending it out. Though call me a bit paranoid but usually I apply a generous amount of face powder with the powder puff (because I never feel satisfied with the coverage I get from powder brush) and then blend it out with this brush. If I am in a hurry I just apply from this for sheer coverage.

All of the above brushes are of really good quality. Another reason I feel my brushes may be becoming a bit scratchy is because I get hard-saltish water at my place. It may be effecting the quality of the brushes since my hair and clothes already are very bad because of this water. I will wash them at mom's house this time to see the difference. The fallout after each wash is bare-minimum. You will hardly notice it.

Overall, would I recommend it to you guys? Yes I would for anyone who is new to make-up and want to feel the difference good quality brushes bring to your make-up at a reasonable price (though I think the previous price was very reasonable as compared to now). Considering majority of the brushes available in Karachi shops, these are close to the best quality available in terms of packaging, result, availability and durability. The price for Deluxe Diva Brush Set is PKR 2350/- If any shop sells you for more, I recommend ordering online. :)

That is it for now girls. If any of you has used these brushes or heard about them Or if you feel need to correct me in anything I have written, do let me know. :)

Till next time.. Take care.. :)