Beauty Product Reviews

Soothing & Effective

I typically have oily skin that requires very little in the way of added moisture. A light serum on my cheeks and neck is the norm, if I use anything anywhere other than under my eyes. But the last few years, once the cold, dry air moves in and the heat is constantly running, my cheeks start to react. I end up with very pink "doll cheeks" that look like I'm wind burned. Until this year, any samples I had around the house did the trick - didn't matter what brand as long as it didn't cause me to break out. But this year nothing was working. My right cheek in particular continued to worsen and developed a rough, bumpy flakey patch that also itched and was driving me nuts.

I have all 3 levels of the Bioderma micellar water that Beautylish sells and really enjoy them, so I decided to give the AR a try. It just arrived Thursday (today is Saturday) and that's what motivated me to write this review so soon. I have only used this product 4 times - Thur pm, Fri am & pm, and Sat am. The pink patch on my left cheek was completely gone by this morning. My right cheek, while still having some remaining pink, is smooth and flake free...and nothing is itchy! Happy Dance!

I have no idea why this is working so well for my skin, but I'm not questioning it. My daughter has the same oily, sensitive, reactive skin so I'm going to send her a tube to try and order myself a backup. It absorbs well, isn't greasy or tacky, and doesn't leave any noticeable smell. Great product!

Really Clever

I bought this specifically to use with my Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer. I like to use a tiny brush to "paint" it on (full strength) for little spots & broken capilaries. But then I like to dilute it with other products (primer, mattifying moisturizer) to thin it out for use as under eye concealer and to cover areas of redness around my nose and chin. I was using the back of my hand, but what a mess! This is small enough to be a help without being a hinderance. The bow tie shape is really handy and gives you enough space to keep multiple products seperate, while still having everything handy at the same time and ready for mixing. Super easy to clean and small enough to store in one of my makeup drawers. These are exactly the type of unique products that I love discovering on Beautylish! So many of us who are not makeup artists, and don't work in the industry, would never know about many of these little gems without sites like this. Love it!

Luxurious!

I have accumulated quite a few Chikuhodo brushes from multiple lines. I love them all. The craftsmenship and quality of the materials make these such a pleasure to use. I have most of the Z-series, a couple of the Maki-e, some GSN-series, and the Passion-series eye brush. When the Takumi-series arrived, I really wondered if I needed to venture into accumulating these, too. Ok...wanted, not needed,. The addiction continues, unrelenting.

While I understand that squirrel is a finer, softer feeling hair for makeup brushes, the Saikoho goat hair used in the Takumi-series is heavenly soft. I love all of my squirrel hair brushes and appreciate their soft, gentle application of product. But I'm going to go out on a limb and declare this T-1 my (current...I'm fickle) favorite brush! First of all, it's huge. The hair of the T-1 is longer & fuller than any of the other brushes I own from all other lines. That means bigger than the Z-1 & Z-9. After using it a few times, it loosens up a bit and becomes even fuller. It doesn't splay out - just becomes even more luxurious than when you first receive it. The hair has an amazingly silky, cool, satiny feel on the skin that I adore. It's a wonderful brush for a light dusting of setting powder, an all over application of finishing powder, or just that last all over blending of products to make sure there are no harsh lines.

If the cost wouldn't give me a stroke, I'd order a dozen backups. I love it so much, I might have to give it a name.

A lot of bang for the buck!

My college age daughter is in multiple school performance groups and also sings in a band. She like's a bold lip for performances but was struggling with the look...especially red. As a typical (meaning broke, lol) college gal, she doesn't have the luxury of buying a different matching pencil for every lip shade. She didn't even know clear ones existed, so I surprised her with this and some new lip colors.

Success! She loves it and it's made getting a nice, precise, bold lip look easier and keeps it in check. No more unnecessary worry that her lips are wandering around her face while she's singing. Everything stays put and she can use it with any color she desires. Kind of ingenious.

Surprisingly, has become one of my daily favorites!

This brush was more of a curiosity to me than anything else. I have a lot of Chikuhodo and Wayne Goss brushes, so the bar for quality has been set very high. I wanted to try a few of the Rae Morris brushes when they hit the site, so I went with this one and the Deluxe & Med Oval Shader eye brushes.

I love this little thing! It's wonderfully soft and small enough to use around the entire eye area. I find it perfect for applying a super light dusting of no color powder to set concealer in one smooth, even swipe. But I've also been loving it for a quick, one shade, wash of color on the lid. It works incredibly well to apply & blend out a gradational look from lash line to just under the brow bone. I also love it for applying a layer of shimmer on top of a day eye look to dial it up for evening. One smooth swipe and you're done!

I didn't expect to love this brush so much. Now I have 2 of them and I'm back to order a 3rd one. I bought the first one separately, then ordered the Kabuki Set, which also came with one. I'm going to mark them somewhere on the handle so I can have one just for no color powder to set concealer, then one each for shadow & sparkle. I know that's indulgent, but I only use powder products with my squirrel hair brushes and try to wash them as infrequently as possible, to prolong their life. It's almost impossible to get every grain of shimmer & sparkle off of a brush when you're just gently wiping them. Having dedicated brushes keeps me from unintentionally walking out the door with disco ball sparkles in a ring around my eye, after thinking I was just setting my concealer.

I also like the look and feel of the handles on all 3 of the short brushes. Overall, a really nice, very soft, surprisingly versatile brush.

You're going to want them all...

...because it's impossible to stop at just one. I started with the eye set and was so thrilled with those, I'm starting to add the others. I have 2 of the "Holiday" brushes (1 black, 1 white) and this is like the cute, baby version of those. I LOVE this brush for using light powder to set corrector and/or concealor in the eye area, and anywhere in the t-zone, because it's so gentle and won't disturb the work you've already put into concealing. The beauty of this brush is its versatility - small enough to have control in small areas and to do precision work, yet still adequately sized to use for things like a wash of blush. Which, unfortunately for my bank account, makes me want more of them! Super soft, beautify crafted, no shedding...could only be better if it came to your door with Wayne himself.

Breathtakingly Gorgeous Shade of Blue

This eye pencil glides on smoothly and has good staying power. Not quite as budge proof as the CT liners, but definitely all day/most of the evening wear when used with primer. I have oily lids, so dry skin may get even better length of wear. While mine did eventually fade a bit, it did not transfer to my lid. What I cannot adequately express is the stunning shade of blue. It has incredible glow & iridescence - not glittery, but almost metallic in it's level of luster. I have a ton of liners and this one has jumped to the number 1 spot for a pop of color. Really beautiful shade!

A Beautiful Indulgence

I have several other Chikuhodo brushes and they are incredibly soft and so well made. Once you start buying Japanese made brushes...well...it's hard to go back. Yes, they're indulgent but they truly do make applying makeup more enjoyable, are incredibly gentle on sensitive skin, and give you more control of the product you're applying. All 3 brushes are fluffy and gently rounded, with a pinched ferrule that makes them paddle shaped. I'm attempting to prolong the beauty of the white goat hair by using these 3 with highlighting products. It's nice to have this set because I can instantly identify them in the sea of dark brushes and know I haven't used them with darker products that may muddy the look I'm applying. The silver case is surprising soft and has 4 pockets that are large enough to hold additional brushes. Perfect for a travel brush case. Having said all that, who am I kidding? The vibrant blue handles with the silver star maki-e design spoke to me - and what they said was, "Buy me! Buy me now!" Pushy little voices. Special thanks to Alicia for her above & beyond customer care and enabling of my recent Japanese brush addiction. ; )

Wow...Bullet Proof

I was fortunate to receive this in my Lucky Bag (2015). Not only is the color beautiful and the application smooth as silk, but it does not budge. The first day I got it, I immediately swatched it on my arm. Lovely color, smooth & creamy, great pigmentation...but so are many other pencil liners. I would not have felt compelled to order yet another eyeliner because I already have so many others piled in cups. BUT, not only did it stay put and maintain its full color on my arm the rest of the day & night...it survived a shower the next morning! I wore it today (on my eyes where it belongs, lol) and it, once again, did not budge - even with my oily eyelids. I don't know what magical ingredient they add to these liners to make them last so long, but I'm pretty sure I need every color now.

Silky Smooth Shimmer

I was thrilled to receive this duo in my Lucky Bag (2015). Very complimentary to gray/blue eyes. These shadows have great pigmentation and are easy to layer for shade variation. They apply silky smooth and have wonderful color payoff using minimal product. This particular duo has a soft shimmer similar to the Viseart Paris Nudes palette. I used this duo with Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer and did not have any creasing. Still looked great after 10+ hours.

I'm thrilled with these shadows and plan on purchasing more. Very happy to have received this in my Lucky Bag or I may have passed them up because they seemed a bit pricey for a duo. But the fantastic quality justifies the price. I also recently bought the Celestial powder highlighter and was equally thrilled. The Kevyn Aucoin line has another new fan.