Beauty ponders

It's time for another comparison article, it's been a long time since I've done one... The 2 products I've chosen today, 2 brushes, are amongst my favourites and I use them daily. Surely worth a little comparison then!
Starting with the ferrule, it's obvious that the A'Squirrel one is much larger, but both of them are quite small. The SUQQU one looks and feels luxurious but still light. The Squirrel one is also light but looks a bit cheap, a bit too much to my likings. It's a blush and a powder brush, but this article is mainly to compare the type of hair and my experience with it. And off course then there is the big price difference where the SUQQU costs 3 times as much as the Squirrel one :).
Both of them look very fluffy & soft, and, yes so they are... (both made of squirrel hair, but on the other hand, I know squirrel haired brushes that aren't this soft). When stroking this brush over your hand or face it's as light & soft as a feather. I haven't experienced any softer brushes than these two. They are both divine in usage! Now then... what's the difference if it isn't in the softness? It's in the density: the SUQQU is soft & dense making it easy to control and perfect for application. The A'Squirrel one doesn't have much density and can only be used for a light application of bronzer/finishing powder. It's not suited for buffing in...
Nevertheless I found it worth comparing these two to each other. If you're looking for a softer than soft brush for finishing application & don't want to spend much money, the A'Squirrel is perfect! There are brushes just as soft as SUQQU ones out there, you just need to find them. And oh yeah my SUQQU brush wins heads down favourite blush brush ever, will do a seperate in-depth review soon...

The last couple of months my latest obsession has become brushes, meanwhile I've bought quite a few and have expanded my collection. My biggest interest goes out to squirrel brushes as they have the softest bristles amongst all, but sadly they aren't the cheapest. So one of my first orders was from A'Squirrel -what's in a name- as they offer affordable squirrel brushes and contained 2 of them: their blending brush and this powder brush.
When taking a first glance at the bristles, they do appear very soft and fluffy. And they fulfill their claim perfectly: the bristles feel like silk against your face and are unbelievable soft (you can't compare this to Sigma or MAC at all, it's more like SUQQU-soft). I do have a hard time stop brushing my face with it, it's so lovely. During usage, not a single hair has been shed - which is always my worst fear with brushes. Washing goes easily and the bristles dry nicely into shape, it does take longer to dry than my other pony/goat/etc brushes.
The ferrule is long & small, compared to other ones. Like the blending brush, this ferrule also feels very light and of cheaper quality. While holding it, I'm always thinking it's so fragile. Off course, if you're not reckless it won't break - it's just a thought. The bristles have a nice standard wide but aren't as full as other brushes, it is flatter. Here you can see a comparison between Sigma Powder brush, A'Squirrel Powder brush, Paula Dorf Powder brush. I've been using this brush mostly for setting powder or an occasional light application of bronzer. Because of the softness of the bristles this brush isn't suited for buffing in, only for a light application and it does so perfectly. A point of negative however: squirrel brushes are very sensitive to oily skin and I noticed during summer that the bristles pick up acces oil from the face which makes the bristles more sticky. So if you have very oily skin this might not be the right brush for you, or be prepared to wash it quite often.
The goods: softness all over, price, doesn't shed, easy to wash & stays in shape, perfect for finishing powder

The bads: cheap ferrule, bristles pick up oil and become sticky, takes a while to dry, not good for buffing in

To sum it up: I really like this brush and enjoy using it all the time - I've had it for more than half a year now. So far it's my favourite brush to apply setting powder. It's just a shame that it comes packed in a cheap ferrule, I would be willing to pay more to get better quality. Nevertheless - it's a perfect brush when you're wanting a squirrel bristles brush and don't want to spend a fortune on it.

And so the Sigma saga continues with another one of their shading brushes, actually the last one, these brushes definitely fall into the "I-like"-category. I've talked about the large and the short one, both to my likings and this one is no exception to that rule.
It contains natural bristles, like the other shading brushes and is very soft and dense. It's easy in usage, I mostly use it for crease and outer corner application but it also works nice to use for highlighters on the browbone (although I prefer a short shader for this job). It's a round angled brush -a bit fluffy- and to me a perfect size: not too big and not too small. However if you have small eyes this one may be to big to use for your corner/crease. I've been using it for half a year or so and the bristles hold up nicely. Here's the comparison:

I can't really say much than the fact that I like this brush and enjoy using it on a daily basis. These shader brushes are the better eye brushes of Sigma and I recommend them, their other eye brushes don't have the same density and softness in my opinion - it's best to leave them be. But off course there are likewise brushes from other brands that are of the same quality as these shader brushes!

I've already done a lot of reviews on Sigma brushes - not all good ones may I add - but they do offer some decent brushes. Today features another of their shading natural hair brushes, this is the large one - which I often grab for. A review of the short one called E55 can be found here.
The brush has a large handle like all Sigma brushes and the bristles are made of natural hair, soft - easy in application & easy to clean. This is a good brush for primer application, creamy shadows or a colour all over the lid. I mostly use it for the last reason. When using a primer I prefer using my fingers & I'm not that much into cream eyeshadows. When saying "large" they aren't exaggerating, it's quite big and covers about 1/3 - half my eyelid and I have quite big eyes already.

Overall I enjoy using this brush but is it a neccesity? Probably not. If you have quite small eyes, skip this entirely. I wouldn't do too much trouble of getting this brush from Sigma as there are similar quality & prisewise brushes available that have the same effect. To sum it up: decent basic brush.

As I told you last week I've been waiting on my new cup to store my brushes and yes, it finally arrived (after a 2 weeks wait, slow shipping but it DID arrive). It's a gorgeous black and looks so luxurious. The leather is probably faux - I'm no expert in that department - but it looks very nice. Here's a little before and after shot for my daily used brushes:
And here is it seen from the top. As I stated before, what attracked me most in this cup is the different heights. I enjoy it more when I can easily reach for all my brushes and don't have to grab into the glass to get one. Point of negative is that you can't store a lot of brushes in it because of the divider. Overall, I'm enjoying my new purchase: convenient, luxurious, not too expensive - what more could I ask for!
Do you have a brush cup like this one with different heights or do you plan on getting a new one?

A little while ago I began browsing around for softer than soft brushes - my skin is so sensitive & I just love luxury - so when I ran into this blog I couldn't help but order some A'Squirrel ones as you could see here. Squirrel hair features the softest brushes, my SUQQU cheek brush is also made of squirrel hair and it's just divine... Curious to my thoughts of this eye blending brush? *click on any picture to enlarge them for a better/detailed view*

First up: even though this brush is made of pure squirrel hair it doesn't come with a hefty price tag, it's available at 13.9$ and the shipping fee is reasonable too. It has a long light small handle, lighter and smaller compared to Sigma/MAC blending brush. The ferrule looks a bit cheap but has been solidly glued together.


The brush is very fluffy and a bit tapered as well. It's fuller than the 224 where the 224 is wider. It's so soft and yet dense at the same time. When washing it I'm glad I have my brush guard to help it, as a few hairs tend to stick out. I mainly use it for blending eyeshadow, which it does a perfect job at. But you can also use it for highlight application, a sheer crease application and so on... Here you can see a comparison between the A'Squirrel - Sigma 224 - Sigma 217.


The goods: soft - soft - soft, easy at blending, price, dries easily, no hair loss

The bads: quality could be much better (handle, ferrule), a few hairs tend to stick out after washing/drying

Overall, I enjoy this brush a lot. It's ubersoft and perfect for blending - exactly what I expected from it. It's a bit disappointing that it isn't all quality but for such a price you cannot expect to have everything. Bottom line: a lovely brush for a lovely price, you should get it!

I'm always curious to check on blogs how other people store their brushes... Most of them, like me, use glasses. I have 3 glasses normally: 2 filled with used brushes and 1 with clean brushes. But the problem with glasses is that the smaller brushes like eyeshadow and such (depending on brand or travel ones) don't always reach the top of the glass - annoying for getting the brush out of the glass and it's also less hygienic. So whilst I was browsing around for a new way to store them I ran into this lovely holder:
Where did I found it? On ebay I did. It's called the Bobbi Brown cup holder and is offered by many sellers - don't know whether it's faux or not, don't really care, I'm just interested in the design and cup itself. What I immediately loved about this cup is the twosectioned area. One is deeper than the other, perfect for those smaller brushes. So yes, guessed right - I ordered one for around 13euros I believe but I'm still awaiting its arrival... Let's hope I love it! Either way, you'll hear about it.
How do you store your brushes and how do you deal with the smaller ones?

**Pic courtesy go to the ebay seller**

It's the 20 pony brush intented to be used for blush or face powder. First up you can see the handle is quite short in comparison to other brands such as MAC. But, honestly, this handle is just perfect. The longer the handle, the more I seem to grab it at the starting of the brush. Apart from being short, it's also a bit bigger than normal handles, again a plus because it works so easily.

The bristles have a roundish shape that is maintained easily, but I also use the brush guard for it just to be sure. The bristles look very soft and indeed, they are... I really hate all that brushes that appear to be soft and when used on your hand are soft but then, when you put them on your cheeks... horror! That's not the case with this baby, this is such a lovely soft brush, much softer than a MAC brush. It doesn't irritate my sensitive skin and because it's not that big it works very precise. It picks up the colour nicely and blends out like it should. A tiny downside to this brush is its price, which is around 50$ but -to me- it's totally worth it. I'm really trying to invest in some decent brushes because I do notice the difference in applying my make-up. This one is defintely on my recommend-list!

The goods: soft!!!!, short/easy handle, blends well, picks up colour nicely

The bads: price

Overall a great brush that I really commend. It will cost you some, but you get a decent luxurious brush in return that will last you a long time... Just try it and I think you'll love it!

The brush guard comes in 4 different shapes: xtra small (eyeliner), small (eyeshadow - home site claims this fits a blush brush but don't believe it), medium (blush/foundation), large (powder/kabuki). You can buy a variety pack containing all of these guards or you can choose which ones you use more often in a simple pack. Each pack costs 5,5$ and international shipping comes at 3$. I've purchased 4 packs: 1 variety, 1 small, 1 medium and 1 large - I now have a total of 23 of these guards as in each pack the number is different. When I wash most of my brushes all these guards are being used. You can always switch days washing your brushes and buy only the variety pack, that's also an option, but at such a low price I decided to go for quantity. Mostly because I'm lazy and when I'm busy washing my brushes I like to have them all done at once...

By now you all know I have dry skin and lately I've been more and more getting into cream blush - or should I state becoming my new pet peeve? I like my powder blushes and will gladly continue to use them, but I have to be carefull as they can quickly lead to a more cakey surface... Cream blush on the other hand never looks cakey on me and imparts a nice glow, yes please!



I bought some Nyx cream blushes a while back and have used them often. Mostly I use my fingers or my Sigma SS188 (no longer though because of article). I'm on the lookout for THE perfect brush to apply cream blush, in the picture are some options listed that have crossed my mind such as:

• MAC 188
• MAC 130
• Becca cream blush brush
• Laura Mercier cream blush brush

Which brush do you recommend / use / are happy with and why? I'd love to hear your thoughts on it...

I mainly use this brush for filling in my eyebrows with my Anastasia powder (review coming!), but I've also used it as a liner. In both ways it does a good job. It's a synthetic brush that is sturdy enough. Even after a lot of cleansing it still looks great. One tiny remark though: a few of the top bristles are a bit out of shape. I like this brush and will continue to use it, it has a good budget price and if you haven't got an angled brush already - this is one to consider.