Review - Sigma Premium Brush Kit (Part 1)

Hey everyone,

I decided that i wanted to do this full review for Sigma Premium Brush Kit, just because i haven't seen that much beauty blogger do an in depth review for this set ^^

I will try my best to compare it with MAC's or other brushes that i have. But just keep in mind that i don't own all of these brushes from the kit in MAC's version. 

Before i get started, i need to make a disclaimer:

I'm pretty much a new beauty blogger. So sigma in no way contact me or give me this brushes for free. All of the brushes that i'm about to show to you guys are bought with my MOM's money. (she bought this for me as a gift, thank you so much mommy). This is my honest review. 

Okay, so, first thing first. I got this set a few months back when sigma has just launched this set. The coding in my brushes are still the old code which correspond with MAC brushes. I have used this brushes for months. So, I'm able to tell you pretty much everything (from a consumer point) you need to know before buying these brushes.

Let's get started then ^^

The first thing that i want to cover is purchasing, shipping, etc. 

This set costed me US$ 149 

Well, in term of price I think these brushes are more on the cheaper side. I mean, come on. If you compare this with the MAC version, it will be approximately US$ 500 (including the brush roll). 

That's a crazy difference (I still love my MAC brushes, don't get me wrong ^^) 

Shipping

first, u guys need to know that i live in the south east Asia, which usually when i buy stuff from the US i might pay more for the shipping cost compared to the price of the products itself. 

So, sigma offered 3 different shipping cost:

1. 18 dollars for shipping in 2-3 weeks (i use this one)

2. 42 dollars for shipping in 2 weeks (damn expensive)

3. 45 dollars for shipping in 1 week

i am really glad that i never chose the second or third options. 

so i placed my order on the 7th of April, the next day i got an email that my brushes were already shipped, and i received my brushes on the 15th. Which is approximately about a week time. 

so this is a plus for me.

Enough of the rambling, let's jump on the product review.

Brush Roll

I don't have MAC's brush roll, but i have seen one. I have to say MAC's brush roll is not even comparable to Sigma's. MAC's is so flimsy, it's made out of nylon. Sigma's one however is made from synthetic material and has a stronger body. It's a really nice material and easy to clean. I feel my brush will be safe in this brush roll.

okay, so again i forgot to take pic of this, so i'm gonna show you the picture from sigmamakeup.com

Dimension: 46cm(width), 26cm(tall) *without the snap button*

Large Powder - SS134 / F20

described as: Large paddle-shaped brush with fluffy and rounded tip. (Natural Hair)

what to use it for: bronzer, blusher, setting powder, sometimes i even use this as a high light brush.

i accidentally rubbed off the branding and code >_<

dimension: approximately 17.4 cm (overall), 4.8 cm (bristles), 5.4 cm (ferrule), 3.4 cm (bristle thickness)

MAC's comparison: 

- MAC's bristle is a little bit wider 

- Sigma's is denser 

- Sigma's handle is shorter 

left to right: Sigma, MAC

-Now, to me this is the most obvious difference. It might not look like they have so much difference, but the Sigma's one is definitely thicker. With that being said, the SS134/F20 is not as practical as MAC 134. The thickness made it hard to contour or highlight with. But as a setting powder brush this still works fine. 

ramble: If you are only interested in a dupe for MAC 134, i recommend you to just get a crown brush. They have a better dupe for MAC 134 which is "Jumbo Chisel Powder Brush C309" click here to see crown brush

recommendation: Not recommended 

Lip - SS316 / L05

described as: compact synthetic lip brush protected by a metal cap.

what to use it for: apply any lip products to create precision

dimension: 17.8 cm (total length when cap is used as the picture above), 0.7cm (bristle) 10.25 cm (when capped)

MAC's comparison:

-The shape of Sigma handle is not as elegant as MAC 316 (personal preference)

- The biggest disappointment of all is at the bristle. MAC 316 has a longer bristle, with that being said, MAC 316 is more comfortable to use. I find when i use Sigma SS316 / L05, my lips often get scratched by the ferrule 

- Sigma SS316 / L05 bristle is also not as soft as MAC 316

ramble: LOL, i think i started this review with 2 of my biggest disappointment, but i promise it will get better ^^. This doesn't happen to me, but i watched one review that said his cap doesn't fit nicely on the end of the brush, so basically, he can't make it into a full size brush. (maybe he's just unlucky, but mine fit perfectly)

recommendation: not recommended

Tapered Face - SS138 / F25

described as: Large domed brush with tapered tip (Natural Hair)

what to use it for: the side is usually used for sculpting and shaping and the pointed tip is used for blending, highlighting, or setting powder. 

dimension: 19.8 cm (length), 5.1 cm (bristle), 3.7 cm (thickness of bristle)

MAC's comparison: I do not own the MAC version of this brush

ramble: i really love this brush for setting my foundation with powder. not so much on blending products on your face.

recommendation: recommended

Duo Fiber Powder / Blush - SS131 / F15

described as: medium size tapered duo fiber brush (the shorter hair: natural, longer white hair: synthetic)

what to use it for: to apply highly pigmented blush or even to apply foundation 

dimension: 18.6 cm (length), 4.2 cm (bristle), 2 cm (bristle thickness) 

MAC's comparison: 

i can't find any significant difference in both of the brush. I use them pretty much for the same stuff and did not see any difference

ramble: i am satisfied with this brush, although it shed a bit, just like any other brush

recommendation: recommended


Powder / Blush - SS129 / F10

described as: Medium round brush (Natural Hair)

what to use it for: all-purpose blush and face powder brush

dimension: 18.9 cm (length), 4.1 cm (bristle), 3 cm (bristle width)

MAC's comparison: 

I do not own a MAC 129 brush in regular version. All i have is the special edition. short handle 129. From what i can see, Sigma SS129 / F10's bristle is not as wide as the MAC's version. It is also not as thick. I would probably say, that this is more comparable to MAC 116. Although i don't own that one as well. 

ramble: to be honest with you, i rarely reach for this brush. I'm most likely to use Sigma SS131 / F15 for blush. But what i like about this is that it packs on colour really nicely. The bristles are soft, and because this is somewhat thinner and not as wide as MAC 126, this brush offer more precision in blush application.

recommendation: it's an okay brush 

Tapered Highlighter - SS165 / F35

described as: tapered cheek highlighter (Natural Hair)

what to use it for: the tapered point make it a great brush for highlighting and contouring. But what i use this brush the most for is for powder foundation. I heard some people use this with liquid foundation as well. 

dimension: 17.8 cm (length), 3.5 cm (bristle) 

MAC's comparison: 

- Sigma SS165 / F35 has a shorter but thicker handle

- MAC 165 comes to a more pointed tip

- Sigma SS165 / F35 is fluffier

- Sigma SS165 / F35 shed more when deep cleaned

ramble: This is probably my sigma brush that i use the most. The difference within the MAC and Sigma for this brush are not that big of a deal for me. Do keep in mind that MAC 165 is a limited edition brush, so you can't get this at their permanent line. Anyway, I use Sigma SS165 / F35 almost everyday. I use this for my powder foundation, highlight, contour, and sometimes even blush. (I don't like to use too many brushes in one day, because i'm just too lazy to clean them at the end of the day) 

recommendation: highly recommended 

Large Concealer - SS192 / F65

described as: large synthetic concealer brush (Synthetic Bristle)

what to use it for: concealing larger area. This brush is also ideal to blend in any cream blushes or cheek stain

dimension: 17.3 cm (length), 2.7 cm (bristle) 

MAC's comparison: I do not own the MAC version of this brush

ramble: to be honest, i really rarely use this brush. I usually use my (clean) finger to blend concealer over larger area. It's just so much more practical and fast. I only use this when i'm doing makeup on someone else

recommendation: It's an okay brush. Nothing really special

Large Fluff Brush - SS227 / E50

described as: an extra large paddle-shaped brush with fluffed and rounded tip (Natural Hair)

what to use it for: eyes and cheek highlight. Use for applying or blending powder products

dimension: 16.4 cm (length),  1.7 cm (bristle) 

MAC's comparison: 

- MAC 227 has longer handle 

- Sigma SS227 / E50 is more fluffy than the MAC 227

- Both work as great. But i prefer MAC 227 for highlighting my eyes and Sigma SS227 / E50 for blending colour and face highlighter. 

ramble: this is one of my must have brush. I use this every day  

recommendation: recommended

Part 2 will be next ^^

Haul #3 - MAC Venomous Villains

Super Duper Excited. 


I purposely skipped MAC fabulous felines collection because I wanna save some money for this venomous villains collection.


Yesterday MAC exclusively launched this collection on 2 venues. 


It launched on 10.30 am and by 11 am some of the stuff is already out of stock. Luckily I came early and got everything on my must have list. There are a few items that i still wanna get, but i still have a chance when they launch island-wide. 


So, enough of the talk and let's get started ^^

1. Dr. Facilier 


There is nothing really on my must have list from Dr. Facilier. All of the pigments is either permanent or a repromote from the "Makeup Art Cosmetics Collection" from last year. 


I HATE lipgelee. Anyway i bought all of the lipgelee from the MAC in Lilyland collection earlier this year and the one in Dr. Facilier's collection is just a repromote from that one. 


The other thing in this part of the collection is grease paint stick. I am just not sold to the colours they are having.


I really wanna get the magically cool liquid powder, but the stock is not in yet, so i will have to go back to my MAC counter once they have it in stock. My recommendation is to get the lighter one if you have a light to medium skin tone and the darker one if you have a darker skin tone. 


I did get something from this collection though. I just have this picture in my mind that this and all of the beauty powders made the collection. 


- I'm so vain mirror 

Look at how crazy he looks. haha..

2. Cruella De Vil

- Wicked Ways Lipglass

Described as semi-opaque bright cherry red. I thought this will look crazy on me. Surprisingly it looks nice and wearable. 

This is a close up look of the colour 

- Sweet Joy Eyeshadow

described as pale gold frost 

I think this will be a gorgeous highlight colour. 

Temptalia noted that this is similar to Creme Royal eyeshadow, which I found i have from the Hello Kitty Collection. I have to say, they are pretty different. Creme royal is definitely more yellow than this. 

- Her Own Devices Beauty Powder

described as sheer medium beige sheen

As all of beauty powder, this is very sheer and it has some sheen when applied to the skin. 

Swatches from Cruella De Vil

left to right: Wicked Ways Lipglass, Sweet Joy Eyeshadow, Her Own Devices Beauty Powder 

3. Evil Queen

- Strange Potion Lipglass

Described as semi-opaque pink coral 

This is one of my must have. It looks gorgeous and applied like heaven. 

- Vile Violet Eyeshadow 

Described as darkened violet with blue matte

-Bite of an Apple Blush

Described as intense bright coral-pink matte

- Oh So Fair Beauty Powder

Described as soft petal pink shimmer sheen 

Swatches from Evil Queen

Left to right: Vile Violet Eyeshadow, Bite of an Apple Blush, Oh So Fair Beauty Powder, Strange Potion Lipglass

4. Maleficent

- Revenge is Sweet Lipglass

Described as sheer, jelly-ish medium pink

look at that crazy bird. I hate the bird!

- Dark Deed Lipstick

Described as Reddened black-brown amplified 

- She Who Dares Mineralize Eyeshadow

Described as blackened navy blue / dirty green

- Briar Rose Beauty Powder 

Described as cool toned medium blue pink 

- Bad Fairy and Formidable nail polish

Left to Right: Bad Fairy, Formidable 

Bad Fairy : shimmery red, copper, gold

Formidable : shimmery teal, blue, violet

I would have to say, if you are not a big nail polish person, don't buy these. I kinda regret buying these to tell you the truth. 

The duo or triple chrome is not so obvious. You need to look it at a certain light and close to your eyes to get the full effect. If not it will just look flat and boring.

Swatches from Maleficent 

This is how flat the nail polishes look without the full effect. If you wanna see the cool effect, just see the swatches in temptalia.com. I can't seem to capture that in pictures. 

Left to right : Revenge is Sweet Lipglass, Dark Deed lipstick, She Who Dares Eyeshadow (both are applied dry), Briar Rose Beauty Powder

So that's all i have from this collection. I hope this is somewhat helpful. 

Oh yeah, I forgot to say that all of the description is taken from temptalia cheat sheet which you can find here: 

temptalia venomous villains cheat sheet

check it out if you are thinking about what to get because it is really helpful ^^

Enjoy your weekend 

Love,

Couture MACqueen

Sweet Summer Cottage Trip

Hi there everyone..

Long time no see.

I have been busy doing nothing. haha.. I just have been resting and working on my sigma premium kit brushes review post, which i think will be up by this week *crossing fingers*

Okay, so last week i went to Melaka, Malaysia because my friend needs to do some of her school project about her field trip earlier this semester. So, she actually asked me and my 2 other friends to accompany her. Since i've got nothing to do, so I went there for 2 days and 1 night. It was really fun. I also really wanted to put some of the pics of my trip there, but my laptop decided that it wanted to be error when i was transferring the data. I ended up with just a few bad pics and lost all the others. * Sobs...*

So anyway, forget about all of the pictures. I did quite some shopping.

Well, i have been obsessed with youtube for more than a year now, and there was one time that a lot of makeup gurus at youtube became obsessed with LUSH and then after that came a lot of other brands like iVi scents, fortune cookie soaps, etc. I have been dreaming to try all of those things, BUT:
1. There is no LUSH in this country
2. I don't want to buy all of these kind of scent products from the internet just because i don't know if i will like it or not.

So the good news is:
When i was in Melaka, i went to this street called Jonker street (forgive me if i spelled it wrong). We were just walking with no sense of directions (because we were there on a "taking pictures" trip, so we just go around and around and around the area) and we accidentally went to one very small alley/street.
I was not really paying attention to whatever thing around me. But suddenly one of my friend pointed at this very cute shop. I wished i could show you the picture of the shop. It's decorated so girly and cute. a lot of white furniture and flowery themed. I went inside and actually this is a 'handmade soap' shop. The shop keeper is actually the owner who is also the maker of all of these soaps.

These are all of the soaps that i got:

I paid about 90 MYR, which equals to 29 USD. I got 4 good big chunk of soaps and one small free one. Which is obviously the yellowish in the middle one.

I have to say that i haven't really try everything yet, for a good reason of course, because i wanna take a good picture for this post ^^. The only one that i have tried is the free one. So let's just get to the SOAPS HEAVEN 

1. Oat Milk Bar Soap 

This is gonna be hard. It is always hard to explain about scents, but i'm gonna try. 

It smells fresh, sweet, and subtle. Nothing too overpowering I wouldn't really know that this is oat and milk if it doesn't have any name at the front. What make me interested about this soap is the oat layer on the top of the soap. It is supposed to be great for exfoliating. 

Here is a close up look of the oat layer:

2. Honey Milk Bar soap 

This one definitely smells like honey. and me love some honey. The smell is again very subtle. It definitely smells more like an organic honey rather than a "right in your face" artificial honey. To me this is the soap that i really feel like eating. Smells so yummyyyyyyyy.

3. Sea Salt Star Soap

This one doesn't actually have any name. i just made it up with the ingredients of the soap. 

I love the colour of this soap and i am all for exfoliating soaps, so I'm pretty excited that this one has sea salt exfoliator. It smells a bit florally but still fresh. 

4. Lemongrass Soap

Look at how gorgeous the soap is. I feel like keeping this and never gonna use this. There is nothing i can say about this but it smells like lemongrass. It's quite a strong one. 

I can understand if there are some people that will hate the smell of soap but i'm not one of them. i totally love it. And actually the seller said that lemongrass will be great if you have acne prone skin. I don't know how it works because i haven't actually try it. 

5. The Free Soap

I don't actually know what the name of this soap is or what's in it. The seller said it's a special flower. That's all i know. I have to say it does have a flowery smell. It definitely remind me of moringa or jasmine flower. 

So if you are planning to go to Melaka, you should check out this store. I will put the email of the seller down bellow, so you can probably email her and ask about directions how to get there. 

sweetsummercottage@yahoo.com 

They only have one store and it is in Melaka. But she does say that maybe if you email her, she will be able to ship the soaps to where you live 

Okay i think that's all about this post, I hope you guys enjoy it.

love,

couture MACqueen