Most Used Ecotools Brushes

Good brushes really do make all the difference when I'm applying my make-up. And I'm really quite particular about my brushes. They need to be super soft because I've got sensitive skin, they need to be shaped correctly for the purpose that I plan to use them for, they need to not shed when I use them or wash them and of course I want them to be cruelty-free.

Because of this my go to brand tends to be Ecotools. They're fairly easy to get ahold of here in Canada, they're reasonably priced, they're sturdy and the are completely cruelty-free with 100% synthetic bristles.

One of the nice things about synthetic bristles is that they don't hold bacteria as easily as natural hair brushes do. They still need to be washed of course, as any product build-up can harbour bacteria but it's still a bit of piece of mind for me at least- especially as I don't wash my brushes as much as I should!

My first set of brushes are mainly used for my face. Above is my retractable kabuki brush from Ecotools and the only brush I use to apply my powder foundation. I love this brush and use it just about every time I do my make-up. It's thick, soft, doesn't ever shed, spreads and buffs powder products well and on top of all that is perfect to travel with as it retracts into the metal case so that none of the bristles are at risk of being bent.

The next two brushes (the two left) are both from different Ecotools' sets and are both meant to be either blush brushes or all over face brushes. I use the smaller of the two (middle) exclusively for blush application and the right one for both loose finishing powder application and blush. They're a little different in shape from one another but both work well. I wouldn't buy them on their own but I'm glad they came with some of the other brushes in a kit. The nice thing about the kits is that they usually come with a travel bag for the brushes too.

The paddle foundation brush above (right) also gets a lot of use when I have a liquid foundation as this shape of brush is my preferred application method. It's thick enough that it blends the product well while small and flexible enough to get into the crease around my nose.

These next brushes I use entirely for eyeshadow application, even the brush on top which came advertised as a concealer brush. As you can tell I tend to use multiple ones at the same time so I don't muddy the eyeshadow colour I'm applying. These are easy to swipe clean on a kleenex between shades too, so I tend to use them nearly every time I apply eyeshadow. Some of these I received as part of a brush kit and some I purchased separately.

This brush again was part of a kit but I love how fluffy it is! Though tiny it's great for applying a setting powder to under-eye concealer or to blend out any harsh lines of a shadow. It's even good for applying a shadow lightly in the crease of the eye.

Please ignore the dent in this last one, it's been well loved. I adore my angled liner brush from Ecotools. It has long stiff bristles, and the slant is perfect. I use this to do fill my eyebrows with brow powder, put eyeshadow along the bottom lid of my eye, do detail work in the outer-v, and apply gel or powder eyeliner. Such a great brush.

So this is my rave about my Ecotools brushes. I love them as you can probably tell. I only wish they had a pencil brush I could use in my crease available as an individual brush, though I have seen some in the newer brush kits that are out.

You can get Ecotools at a variety of stores here in Canada, some of which include: Walmart, Rexall, London Drugs, Pharmasave, and they've been spotted in some Costco's. Online they're available through iHerb  as well.

In the USA they're avilable through Target and Walmart. I'm sure they're avilable at most standing stores as well, I just don't know which ones as I don't live there.

Remember if you order online to always check out retailmenot for coupon codes and use ebates at most major websites (like Target).

I hope you found this break down of some of my favourite Ecotools brushes useful! Take care until next time.



Disclaimer: All products in this post were purchased by me. The only affiliate link in the post is the ebates links.

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Illamasqua Easter Deal!

Illamasqua is having an Easter Sale this weekend! You can get 20% off, and receive a free (non-animal hair) eye liner brush with a 100 British pound purchase. The code to use at checkout is EASTER20

You don't need to spend over 100 pounds to receive the discount, but you do need to be over 100 (after discount!) to get the free liner brush. I've heard good things about their brushes so this seems like a good way to try them!

The offer ends 9am Tuesday morning so you need to make you decisions before then! Happy Easter :D

Wet n' Wild Mega Eyes Cream Liner in Eggplant

It's a snow day here at my university so I'm taking advantage of the break and trying to catch up on blogging! A little while ago I bought the Wet n' Wild Mega Eyes Cream liner in Eggplant a dark purple shade. It comes in the above UFO shaped container and cost around $7 CND. 

It also comes with an angled brush which is too thick to use for eyeliner in my opinion but may work out for an eyebrow brush. This liner really does hit all the marks of a good gel/cream liner in my opinion. 

It's smooth and creamy, pigmented and stays put all day long. In fact I put it on my hand in varying intensities and the thickest swatch lasted 3 days. And considering I did dishes and was also in lab for some of that time this is seriously impressive! 

Another good thing about the product is the packaging. It looks weird in that the lid is on the bottom but this is actually a good thing as I need to store all my other cream and gel products upside down to keep them creamy otherwise they'll dry out. 

One dip of the brush through the gel and wiping until I ran out of product on the brush.

Thickest line three days later (And much scrubbing)

What else is nice about this product? Because the purple is so dark it doesn't look outrageous on like a blue liner would. This is work-friendly! It also has really lovely violet shimmer in the sunlight (Click the photo below to see the large version and the shimmer). 

If you're worried about removal don't be, it came off completely and easily with some waterproof make-up remover.

Overall Rating: 8/10- Lost points for the fact it could be a bit more pigmented (I had to slightly touch up one of my eye lines after application) and the price is expensive for wet n' wild (though the quality is on par with my Mac fluidliner). 

Would I buy again? Yes. Overall I'm happy with the product and the wear as well as the look and packaging. A good buy, especially for a drugstore liner, wish they had more shades!

Shopper's Drug Mart Holiday Special Gifts

I was just a Shopper's Drug Mart (SDM) the other day and they had a bunch of really neat holiday special items out on display. The Quo ones were great especially!

The two shadows by Quo on display

My favourite were the two Holiday palettes of eyeshadows. Though I'm betting they're overspray the detail work is so stunning in gold and of course the underlying colours are lovely looking too! These cost around $13 CND each if I remember correctly. 

Earth Quo Holiday

Mauve Quo Holiday

Top of the eyeshadow cases (with a light reflect from overhead lamp *hand forehead*)

Isn't this awesome!? Magnetic travel brushes you just pull off and switch without having to bring the entirety of your brushes with you on vacation! All a lovely royal blue colour. I'm fairly sure they're all synthetic bristles but I'm not positive so check yourself at the store if you're interested and that's important to you. Cute and practical for $35 CND. And from previous Quo brushes I can say they are decent quality for sure. 

Isn't this kit awesome!? Nail Dryer, Nail buffer/shaper, 9 nail polishes, hand and cuticle cream, and a couple nail brushes as well as a random white pencil. Overall for $20 CND an awesome deal if you're interested at all (though I know nothing about the company and their animal testing status- sorry!)

That's all the cosmetics for now but I saw a bunch of other cute holiday things so I felt I had to include them as well. Enjoy!

The Abominable Snowman and the Dentist Elf

Form the Classic Rudolph movie as a kid there was stuffed toys of a bunch of the characters so cute!

Rudolph and Clairice

Giant Rudolph and the Snowman Narrator

Adorable little Swarovski Crystal Reindeer (Not SDM)

Swarovski Crystal Stockings and Holly

More Swarovski Crystal only Snow people and a Poinsettia 

ELF Holiday Kits (& some extras)

HUGE eyeshadow palette (yes all those colours are e/s)

I was at Zellars on Monday and they had just about every possible ELF (Eyes Lips Face) kit for holiday you could possibly need and then some. I took pictures of most of them but there were so many I know I missed a couple! For someone just getting into make-up that wants to try out a bunch of different looks to see what suits them these kits would be an excellent budget-low option. 

Liquid eyeliner trio in Black, Silver and Burgundy

I was so tempted to pick this one up! But I rarely use black and I have a gel silver so I told myself I couldn't have it lol.

Lipglosses in squeezey tube or click pen format

Nail Polish Trio, Lipgloss trio

I almost caved on the nail polish trio too! A beautiful candy apple red with sparkle (nicer than it looks in the picture here), a gold circle glitter top coat (highly reminiscent of SOPI's Only Gold For You- Love to see a comparison between the two) and a very winter wonderland iridescent white glitter. 

More click pen glosses

Smokey eye kit, with an eyelash curler!

There were a couple of different colour variations of this kit

Glitz and Glam kit (Look at the white sparkle glitter liner!)

Look at all the brushes!
(NOTE: I believe they are all synthetic but I might be wrong)

Look at the neat red bristles!

Another GIANT palette combo
(Only this one has layers!- and a mirror)

List of items in the giant palette above

If you can't read it it goes english/french

• 9 eyeshadows
• 1 cream eyeshadow
• 1 blush
• 1 bronzer
• 10 lipglosses
• 1 brow powder
• 1 eyeliner pencil
• 1 dual ended eyeshadow applicator
• 1 face brush
• 1 small precision lip brush

There were also quite a few six eyeshadow palettes in different colour variations that come with a itty bitty brush.

As for extras!.......

I saw this and had to take a picture of it! Perfect for a little girl as everything here looks pretty sheer. Not to mention cutesy! Or you know for the sweet tooth and child at heart among your friends. :D (P.s. I know nothing about the testing status for this company)

If anyone out there needs new grooming tools this looks like an awesome kit to get. I personally use a nail kit by Revlon and have been very pleased since I got it with the quality. Plus who doesn't like Va Va Groom? Hehe. The kit above costs $11.99 CND.

I opens via a magnetic closure and comes with a nail file, an emery board, tweezers and nail clippers.

Clearer picture

Red Croc anyone?

Lots of lovely value goodies don't you think? (More value goodies to come once I get pic, permissions)

Illamasqua Christmas

Illamasqua has released some lovely sets for Christmas this year! Two Nail Polish Duos that have coordinating polishes and a couple other sets too. Both sets cost 20 GBP. The two polish duos are

Untold and Ruthless. Illamasqua describes the set as:

"These powerful, passionate reds bring a flirtatious beauty to your fingertips. Hardwearing and chip-resistant they can be worn individually or combined for a festive sparkle that would put Dorothy’s ruby red slippers to shame. It’s no wonder Cosmopolitan voted us Best Nail Varnish 2010."

And here they are in the packaging, featuring a Nymph-like girl on the side.

The other Duo includes Harsh and DWS. Here's what Illamasqua says: 

"These enchanting shades can be worn individually or together as a dazzling combination. DWS is our best selling grey gloss, which can be transformed into an eye-catching diamond effect with the addition of Harsh - a clear-based silver glitter varnish. Hardwearing and chip-resistant, these award-winning nail varnishes are definitely a party girl’s best friend."

Same packaging (Image from Illamasqua website)

There are some other lovely sets too!

For 50 GBP this Christmas Gift set is just lovely! It includes Illamasqua's False Lashes in No. 18, Precision Ink in Abyss (Black sponge-tipped liquid eyeliner), Pure Pigment (Loose eyeshadow) in Android (a shimmering Charcoal Black) and Liquid Metal in Surge (Cream eyeshadow in Pale Gold with Silver hints). 

Illamasqua describes it as:

"Feast your eyes this party season on our enchanting Christmas gift set, with everything you need for a fabulously festive smoky eye. The set consists of False Eye Lash No.18, Precision Ink in Abyss, Pure Pigment in Android, and Liquid Metal in Surge. Set your eyes to hypnotise and make it a Christmas to remember."

Luxury Lashes. Gosh these look stunning! A cringe-worth 25 GBP but lovely. They also come with lash glue. *drool* So decadent!

Lashes in Opulence (Vintage Gold Diamante) 

Lashes in Decadence (Antique Silver Diamante)

The Lashes are described as "Back by popular demand, these limited edition Luxury Lashes are utterly fabulous and unmistakably Illamasqua. A truly unique creation, they are fast becoming a collector’s item and allow you to celebrate the festive season in decadent style. Available in Opulence (vintage gold diamante) and Decadence (antique silver diamante)."

Nail Quills. Honestly I find these a little strange and more Vampire-Gothic than Christmas but to each their own. They cost 35 GBP for two and are Limited Edition. Illamasqua describes them as:

"Unique, extraordinary, and extravagant these tantalising talons are like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Handmade exclusively for Illamasqua by one of the hottest names in nails, Mike Pocock, these collector’s items are guaranteed to tease the senses of anyone whose eye they catch. This limited edition comes in a beautiful gift box, complete with nail tabs and glue and is exclusive to illamasqua.com and our Flagship Store, 20 Beak Street London – get them before they’re gone!"

The only other images for these that I can find are these two.

They also go along with this warning: "Nail Quills are handmade and bespoke, therefore individual pieces may vary. Please take care when wearing; Illamasqua are not responsible for any damage caused." Hmm, that doesn't sound too safe to me.

Not exclusive to the Christmas collection, these feathered wonders came out with the Art of Darkness Collection, and I think they're lovely! Makes my think of angel wings. Formally called False Eye Lashes No. 26, they cost 17.50 GBP and do come with eyelash glue. Illamasqua's spiel about them goes like this: 

"Illamasqua’s most daring lashes to date, these feathered creations from our Art of Darkness collection will add unmissable impact to any night-time look. Individually handmade and wonderfully soft, they’re a true work of art."

Illamasqua has also released a lovely brush set, for 95 GBP (supposably the set is worth 120 GBP). It comes with a brush roll with the Nymph girl on it and five brushes: Blusher Brush, Foundation Brush, Eyeshadow Brush, Eye Brow Brush and Lip Brush. 

A better look at the picture on the Brush Roll.

Inside of the Brush Roll with the brushes. (To see closer of the brushes go to the site and roll your mouse over the image in the Colour section. The front of the roll and the brushes will all show up bigger.

Illamasqua describes this set:

"This really is the ultimate collection; from the cruelty-free, synthetic brushes to the high quality leatherette casing, printed with an elegant illustration where our heroine depicts Narcissus gazing longingly at her own reflection; on the inside are five of the most versatile brushes available on the market. Luxurious and elegant, convenient and practical, this is the perfect gift for anyone who loves make-up."

All around a pretty nice, Christmas Night sort of collection that I like quite a bit. What do you think?

P.S. All the Images are from Illamasqua