Paula Dorf Sheer Crease Brush.

after Lisa Eldridge's shout out on the brushes by Paula Dorf as one of her favourite brushes, i "systematically hunted them down" and was always very pleased with them. only the Sheer Crease Brush and the Smokie Lid Brush were not easy to find, so Maureen helped me to purchase them. the Smokie Lid is still a work in progress, but today i want to share with you my thoughts on the Sheer Crease Brush first. see the reviews of my other Paula Dorf Brushes here and here.
the Sheer Crease Brush costs 29$ and is available at dermstore.com, beautybridge.com or pauladorf.com.
this is a round tapered blending or crease brush. it's made with very soft natural hair, by the hair texture, thickness and resilience i guess it's goat. the shape seems very similar to the tapered dome of the MAC 224 brush, but this is a bit shorter and fatter. it performs completely different, though. the MAC 224 i can only use to blend since i find it too fluffy/floppy to use in the crease. the Paula Dorf brush feels more substantial on the lids and has the same perfect press point/bounce/resilience like the Powder Brush which i also love. this resilience and the soft taper makes this brush ideal to apply and blend a crease colour at once, it fits snug into my crease area. i think this brush is a perfect hybrid between the Trish McEvoy Tapered Blending Brush (a great crease brush) which is quite pointed and my HG blending brush, the Edward Bess Luxury Eye Brush.
the Sheer Crease Brush washes nicely and doesn't shed. the handle is relatively short but very sturdy. don't let the unattractive name print fool you, the Paula Dorf brushes are excellent tools.

pre-wash

post-wash

comparison

Louise Young LY38 Tapered Eyeshadow Brush - Hakuhodo S142 - Trish McEvoy #29 Tapered Blending Brush - Paula Dorf Sheer Crease Brush - Le Métier de Beauté Crease Brush - Edward Bess Luxury Eye Brush - MAC 224

Louise Young LY38 Tapered Eyeshadow Brush - Hakuhodo S142 - Trish McEvoy #29 Tapered Blending Brush - Paula Dorf Sheer Crease Brush - Le Métier de Beauté Crease Brush - Edward Bess Luxury Eye Brush - MAC 224

FOTD gold & berry

when i showed you the NARS blusher in Oasis few days ago, i mentioned how nice it would look with an intense gold eye make up but showed you the blusher worn with a normal working-day-face instead. so when i came home from work earlier yesterday, i played a bit with my stuff (i wanted to try the smokey gold eye with that berry/plum blush) and freshened up my existing make up with the above shown result. 

this is what i used (and i applied in the order i show you):

Vichy Aera Teint Pure Fluid Foundation in #23 + BeautyBlender

Chanel Poudre Universelle Libre in #20 Clair + A'Squirrel Pure Squirrel Powder Brush

brows: MAC Copperplate eyeshadow + Louise Young LY30 + Alverde brow gel

for the eyes i wanted a cat eye shaped rich gold look that blends up and fades seamlessly into my brow bone area and melt with a gold glowing complexion.

MAC Retrospeck + Rouge Bunny Rouge Crease Brush - NARS Rajasthan duo + Hakuhodo Kokutan Brush T - Giorgio Armani Heat Palette + Paula Dorf Eye Glimmer Brush - Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Silk Eyeshadow #6 + Da Vinci 4194 Small Blender

Helena Rubinstein Lash Queen Sexy Black mascara sample

 guide:

• gold shade from Giorgio Armani Heat Palette on the lid with Paula Dorf Eye Glimmer Brush
• Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Silk Eyeshadow #6 with Da Vinci 4194 Small Blender widely in the outer V
• gold taupe from NARS Rajasthan eyeshadow duo on the edge of the inner corners (this is a cool gold which avoids the look being too orange on me) with Hakuhodo Kokutan Brush T
• MAC Retrospeck with Rouge Bunny Rouge Crease Brush on the tearduct area and to blend up everything to the brow bone
• lower lashline: NARS Rajasthan gold along the lower lashline, gold shade from GA Heat palette as eyecatcher in the center.
• Edward Bess Luxury Eye Brush to blend everything out & together

if it's not gold enough for you, or if you need it to be more, add a sparkly gold pigment!
i dabbed Illamasqua's pigment in Ore with a MAC 242 on top of the whole eye look to intensify the effect - it was sooo sparkly and beautiful but i couldn't capture it in the gloomy daylight. (all face-shots are without the glitter pigment)

Illamasqua pigment in Ore + MAC 242

for the rest of the face: 

• i used a bronzer on the sides of the face and the bridge of the nose to warm up my complexion and give me a bit of dimension 
• a goldish highlighter buffed in on the top of my cheekbones, the cupid's bow and a bit on my forehead to give myself a golden glow
• a deep berry purple blush to contrast the gold and to balance the look

Edward Bess Ultra Luminous Bronzer in Daydream + Paula Dorf Powder Brush

Guerlain Terra Inca + Burberry Beauty Brush

NARS Oasis blush + A'Squirrel Pure Squirrel Blush Brush

i wanted a glossy, intense gold lip, but since i don't own really gold lipglosses i used my all time fave MAC gloss again: Nymphette. it has a nice visible gold shimmer.

MAC Nymphette Lipglass

which bronzer for this summer?

this summer i'm really on a bronzer trip! i think this year i bought almost all bronzers out there - you know i never do it half ;)
but still, i find my little selection very varied. today i want to give you a short overview of this year's summer powders from the most common brands plus some permanent products for everybody who don't want to buy several products.
click on each title to get to its separate post.

Chanel bronzer in Bronze Rosé

i think this bronzer would be the most suitable for fair cool skin tones of this year's bronzers since it's sheerly pigmented and its colour is quite mauvey brown. it has that additional pink stripe so i can also use it as a rosey brown blusher. it can make me look a bit muddy so i have to be careful with application. it is limited edition.

Benefit Hoola

is a higher pigmented powder, it's a neutral brown with yellow/ochre undertones that can be easily used as contour powder since it's matte and doesn't have too much red or pink undertones. i don't really like it as a bronzing product since it lacks the fresh kick.
i could be used also on darker skin tones to maybe MAC NC/NW 45 (?). this is a permanent product.

Edward Bess Ultra Luminous Bronzer in Daydream

is a lovely golden bronze with fine shimmer that warms up my complexion and let's me look sunkissed. a great texture to apply, always looks soft and even. in combination with Hoola as contour i like to use this so soften up and bring everything together. it's not too orange but has a peachy undertone. i think it's great on fair-medium warm skin tones. it's a permanent product.

Guerlain Terra Inca

is very shimmery, so nothing to use all over or on bigger areas for me! it reminds me of MAC's MSFs, but is a lot softer and finer. it's like a golden bronze highlighting product that i like to apply very very sheerly on the top of my cheekbones. this can emphasize enlarged pores and unevenness on your skin. it would look great on the body, it emphasizes your tan. i also use it as a shimmery bronze eyeshadow. it has a divine jasmine scent. definitely only for shimmer-fans or for Guerlain-lovers (the packaging is a treasure itself!). otherwise i find it too expensive for occasional usage.

Estée Lauder Sea Star Bronzing Blush

in my opinion the most beautifully pressed powder this year (although the compact is not as brilliant). a lovely subtle shimmering pinky peach shade that i exclusively use as a blush on my cheeks although it also warms up my complexion. some girls complained about it to be too powdery, but i don't have any of these issues using a soft squirrel hair brush and not swirling too much inside the pan but tapping the brush into both coloured parts (i generally don't like to swirl in my pressed powder products because they will mess up that way). it's beautiful - definitely try it if you still meet one left!

Dior bronzer in Aurora

the most beautiful packaging of this year is by Dior. i love it! the powder itself is also very good, it's soft and finely milled. it's a really peachy (fortunately not orange) tan on me and freshens up my complexion. it gives me a warm luminous look, no obvious shimmer. i can use it as bronzer but also as a blush.
i think this is a great product for fair-medium warm skin tones. this is a limited product.

i swatched all of them together:

Chanel Bronze Rosé - Benefit Hoola - Edward Bess Daydream - Guerlain Terra Inca - Estée Lauder Sea Star - Dior Aurora

Chanel Bronze Rosé - Benefit Hoola - Edward Bess Daydream - Guerlain Terra Inca - Estée Lauder Sea Star - Dior Aurora

Chanel Bronze Rosé - Benefit Hoola - Edward Bess Daydream - Guerlain Terra Inca - Estée Lauder Sea Star - Dior Aurora

out of the six my top rates are:

1. Dior Aurora

2. Edward Bess Daydream

3. Estée Lauder Sea Star

(while Edward Bess combined with the Sea Star or any other peachy pink blush would be my top pick)

my tools of choice to apply bronzer:

• the Edward Bess Luxury Face Brush is great for sheer bronzers (this will get a proper review soon).
• the Paula Dorf Powder Brush is soo soft and fluffy and has the perfect thin paddle shape for bronzer, you can apply with the thin side on the hollows of your cheeks and with the wide side on the sides of the face. it will give a sheer wash to your face.
• the Trish McEvoy Bronzer Brush #37 is round and tapered and also perfectly sized and shaped for bronzer, it's soft but has a lot more resistance than the Paula Dorf so it buffs out your bronzer better and is great for a more apparent bronzed look.
• for a contour with the Benefit Hoola, you know i always use my MAC 138 or Hakuhodo S103 (not on the pic)

there are some bronzers left that i really want to try since i started to discover the perfect placement and dose for my skin tone: the Giorgio Armani Sheer Bronzer in #1, the cream bronzer by Chanel, a Terracotta Bronzer by Guerlain and a Matte Bronzer from Dior.

what about you? do you have some of these or can you recommend any else? do you use bronzer on a regular basis? for my part i usually skip it in a work make up, but if i have more time, i always like to add some dimension to my face ;)

Paula Dorf brushes II.

i bought these two Paula Dorf brushes on ebay recently additionally to my existing assortment. some of her brushes are sold by wholesellers on there at a discounted price.

the Eye Glimmer Brush is a dense and stiff brush made of sable hair i think. it's rather wide and flat and reminds me of the MAC 242 a bit, only bigger and thicker (i don't own the 252, so i can't compare). it's meant to apply her sheer shimmering Eye Glimmer shadows, but handles every other shadow just as well. i like sable hair the most when it comes to intense colour application. i find it grabs a good amount of product but releases it almost completely without absorbing too much product. so i would always prefer a sable hair brush to apply intense looks, outer corner shades, smokey eye make ups. it's also great at applying loose eyeshadows/pigments. because of its size i prefer to use it for lid colour application, especially for the dark shades right along the lashline in smokey looks.
the brush is thin enough to use its tip for the lower lashline, but not very precisely.
it's well made, washes nicely (although glued quite stiff at the beginning, everything washes out easily) and holds the shape. the strong animal and glue smell also disappears after the first wash. the hairs are stiff but still very smooth to the delicate skin of your eyelids.
at 14.99$ a good investment.

pre-wash

post-wash

MAC 239 - Hakuhodo B532BkSL - Paula Dorf Eye Glimmer Brush

the other brush i bought is the Eye Definer Brush. it has a square shape, is very thin and made of stiff taklon bristles. it's very sturdy and washes well (doesn't loose the shape at all). the shape makes it perfect to apply (gel-) eyeliner in stamping motions (good way to get started if you are a beginner) but even more, for applying eyeliner on your waterlines. i use it to push my eyeliner onto the lower and upper waterlines and wiggle it into the upper lashes. the flat wide shape makes it very easy and avoids additional irritation of my eyes. i mostly apply cream eyeshadows with shimmery champagne colour to my lower waterlines, it gives me that extra bright-eyes-/wide-awake-look. pushing the cream shadow product on allows an even application and better staying power.
this is a rather special brush that you don't necessarily need in your collection, but if you hassle with your gel liners on the waterline, this is a neat little tool to help. and for only 6.99$ i thought i would try it since i didn't own any comparable brushes ;)