Customized Brush Rolls-asoftblackstar (Etsy)

Check out this adorable customized brush roll from asoftblackstar.etsy.com. These brush rolls are HANDMADE  (she is very talented!), and she puts a lot of time and effort into each one. She also makes different kinds of items such as a jewelry holders and makeup bags- even makeup bags with a matching brush holder! You can choose from 29 different colors and designs. I chose the pink and black damask print to match my wedding invitations, and I just love the cute design!

As described on her site, each brush roll is made from medium weight cotton and has a lot of durable stitching on the inside. There are pockets with various sizes to hold different size brushes, and a large flat flap covers the brushes when rolled and will not poke out at the top. There's also two handy thick strings to help hold the brush roll together. You can also easily clean it in the washer, or use mild soap and water.

She also has a small brush roll (8 pockets) for $16.99 and the large brush rolls (like the one featured here with 16 pockets), for $20.99. Definitely check her site out for more pics and info because she has tons of awesome stuff!

Large makeup brush roll approx. measurements:
approx. width = 18.5 inches (47 cm)
approx. height = 14.5 inches (37 cm)

Disclaimer: All product reviews and honest opinions on this site are solely that of my own and I am not endorsed, affiliated, or paid for this review unless otherwise specified. This product was given for review consideration.

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NYX Matte Lipsticks (Swatches!)

Here are swatches of the NYX Matte Lipsticks ($4.99) I snagged at IMATS: Indie Flick, Sweet Pink, and Shocking Pink. These lipsticks are gorgeous! Even though they have a matte finish, they are not at all drying (at least to me), I have "Ruby Woo" from MAC which is a matte finish and it's so dry, I can't apply that without some chapstick; in comparison, these are very moisturizing and very pigmented!

The only con is that there is not a lot of product in comparison to standard lipsticks, but then again it's only $4.99! To get an idea, the second pic below is the lipstick twisted all the way up.

I also took the liberty of comparing these lipsticks to other lipsticks in my collection, when I originally swatched "Shocking Pink" at IMATS, it reminded me of MAC's "Candy Yum-Yum" lipstick, so I swatched similar pinks to see what they could be close to. "Indie Flick" is more of a true orange (it didn't show up that true in pics), MAC's "Coral Polyp" from the Dame Edna Collection and MAC's "Hibiscus" from the Surf Baby Collection had more of a reddish terracotta tinge to it. And NYX's "Femme" lipstick is a nice true coral. NYX's "Sweet Pink" is close to MAC's "Show Orchid" and NYX's "Shocking Pink" is just a tad bit more berry in shade, whereas MAC's "Candy Yum Yum" is more on the lighter pink side.

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Inglot Info, Haul, & Swatches!

Yay! Finally the internet connection is back up at home, ugh I hate Time Warner. Our internet is either slow or not working like 80% of the time...can't wait till our contract is up so we can switch. Anyway, I promised a post of my Inglot haul & swatches, so here it is!

A breakdown of what I got:
- Inglot's Milk & Tonic Wipes $4 (smells yummy and at such a good price!)
- Metal palette w/thumb hole $10 (to mix my pigments & foundations on)
- Large Inglot Makeup Bag $16 (fits all my brushes and Inglot palettes!)
- 10 eyeshadow palette with eyeshadows $50
- 5 eyeshadow palette with eyeshadows $30
- Inglot Loose Eyeshadow Pigment in #34 (got it at IMATS for $11)

There's so much info about Inglots, so I am going to break them up for those of you who are new to the brand.

How it works: Basically when you arrive at the store, you will be given a magnet board (assuming you want a palette), and you basically take the eyeshadows out of the demo slab and put it on your board (see pic below), once you are done, the sales rep will then give you the palette size you want (they have different sizes- 2, 4, 5, 10, 20, 40), along with the eyeshadows you picked out. You can either put the eyeshadows in yourself, or have the sales rep do it for you.

Freedom System Palette Pricing (pricing includes eyeshadows):
*Each eyeshadow pan (just the refill) is $7 each. At the store, the quantity doesn't matter it's still $7 no matter how many you buy (on their website, the more eyeshadow you buy, the cheaper each one is, example: you buy 10, each eyeshadow then becomes $4.50).

- 2 eyeshadow palette $16
- 4 eyeshadow palette $26
- 5 eyeshadow palette $30
- 10 eyeshadow palette $50
- 20 eyeshadow palette -around $85
- 40 eyeshadow palette $180
- 2 pressed powder palette $30
- 4 pressed blush palette $42

***Regarding rumored price increase***- Now I know via the internet, there have been some rumors about a price increase on the Inglot palettes (for example the 10 eyeshadow palette going from $50 to $80), BUT even though I do not know in the future if that will happen, I DID go to the Newport Beach location and I only paid $50 for my 10 pan palette, and supposedly this price increase was supposed to happen in Feb or May and bought it in early July so.....*shrugs*. BUT the makeup artist did tell me that the round eyeshadow pans WILL BE discontinued.

Color shades: The one thing I dislike about Inglot, is that they don't have easy shade names to remember, so if a friend were to ask me what I am wearing on my eyes, no way would I remember LOL. They name their shades by number and the type of finish it is. Example: 42 matte.

Inglot's various eyeshadow finishes (they have a lot of different finishes!)

• Matte: Matte shades have a flat, dull finish, no shimmer or sparkle.
• Pearl: Another fairly standard term, these shades have a satiny to slightly shimmery frost finish, but are devoid of separate particles of glitter.
• DS: "Double Sparkle", these have a matte type base but have fine glitter or shimmer to them, but not overly sparkly.
• AMC: Stands for "advanced makeup component", which is dubbed as long-wearing, waterproof, and sweatproof and to be the most pigmented out of all the other finishes.
• AMC Shine: Same as AMC above, but more finely milled so these have a bit more sheen to them. 

The eyeshadow pans fit in my Z-palettes! These are the palettes I customized myself [CLICK TO ENLARGE]:

I ended up switching the e/s on the bottom row (2nd from the left), 

but the swatches reflect the new color :) 

Top Row:

***the darkest purple is on the left, and the rest of the swatches are in proper order***

 Some close ups of some of the shadows:

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Removing Inglot e/s Pans Using Magnets

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IMATS Haul 2011

Finally have my IMATS Haul up! I still have TONS of reviews and posts to do, and pics to edit, but I am getting there! Don't worry INGLOT post is next! I didn't haul a lot as you can see, since I pretty much got everything I needed at the Vegas show.

I stocked up on some lashes, and my holy grail Anastasia products because it was 40% off at the show! So instead of paying around $20 each for the Brow Whiz Pencil and the tinted brow gel in Caramel, I paid around $12.50 each! The Inglot booth was packed with people, and just ended up getting a 5 eyeshadow palette at the time because it was my first time trying them out. I also stopped by my favorite brush booth, Bdellium Tools and bought some brushes. The NYX booth at the show was insane, but was able to snag some of their new matte lipsticks (which I love!), I will post swatches soon and comparing them to other lipsticks (such as MAC's "Candy Yum Yum!)

Napoleon Perdis was a major sponsor this year at IMATS and they were so generous and nice to the everyone, their booth was one of the best ones at the show. I received their coral kit that has coral eyeshadows, blushes, and their infamous lip veil, and their lip veil in "Rare Opal" in my press kit and I am just loving coral right now, so it was right up my alley!

One of the highlights of IMATS, was meeting Zena, the creator of the Z Palette! I wish I took a pic with her...she is super sweet and I was so flattered she already knew who I was because she read my previous review on the Zebra Z Palette, and gave me the Pro Z Palette to review (which is sturdier and deeper, of course review coming soon!)

 Since I re-organized my Inglot palette and bought new shades, swatches and names of each one will be featured in my Inglot post :)

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