When searching to upgrade my makeup brushes, I came across Rephr. Their brushes always seemed to pop up, when I watched makeup tutorials of professional makeup artist and I was sure there would be no way for me to afford them. But they often times have their concept store event, where they offers great discounts and I took advantage of it.

A really long time ago I got this super cute pink package from ličila.si. All the products in it are vegan and drugstore priced. My package smelled like Christmas cookies because of the O.W.N. Candles Happy Holidays Wax that was in the package. 

I almost never get excited about drugstore eyeliners, because I in general dislike felt tip and regular liquid formulas. So when I saw Catrice was coming out with a brush tip, I knew I had to try it out. I am always trying to find European version of my beloved Clio Kill Black Liner, because it's a hassle to get it from Asia. I think this one might be a good enough replacement. 

I have talked about Ecotools brushes on my blog already. They are one of those drugstore priced brushes that have nice quality bristles and durable bamboo handles. I have a few of my favorites from them, so I ordered some more shapes to try out. 

When a was on a day trip in Varaždin (Croatia), I found this makeup brand called Noelle in their Bipa. As far as I could found on the internet, this must be Croatian brand, but correct me, if I'm wrong. Their makeup products are available in Bipa stores. Brushes were really affordable and I'm a sucker for eye brushes, so I got the blending one. I also bought their makeup brush case which is really well made and great to travel with. For more of their products browse here. 

It's rare that I post a separate brush review, because I just feel like most of you aren't that interested in these posts. I've done post of my favorite brushes, but whenever I come upon some really nice for the price, I want to share it with you. Today is that occasion. I'm talking about Ecotools, which is a brand the brand that is not talked about a lot, but has great quality brushes. I've recently ordered their Define & Highlight Duo and it deserves a separate review.

Essence Hololighter Brush is one of my favorite brushes in my current makeup collection, so it was about time I did a review of it. It's in Essence standard makeup range, but if you know Essence, they can quickly decide to discontinue products, so get it while you can.

You might have noticed a new brand in our drugstores. Actually, it's not that new anymore. It's called L.O.V. and it's a more luxury brand sister of Essence and Catrice. I haven't tried anything from them so far, but I got a few brushes to test out. The brand offers a variety of makeup products for all parts of the face and in May they also added makeup brushes to their range. They also have some Limited Edition seasonal products, although not as often as Essence and Catrice. 

I got their LIPlure Lip Brush, HIGHLYconfidential Concealer Brush and EVENelegance Foundation Brush. The names are quite fun to read. All of these come in a black boxes with gold details and a transparent plastic corner that let's you see what's inside. 

The brushes have a black handle and gold (with a hint of rose) design that is simplistic. I like it. The bristles on all brushes are black, synthetic and in general quite soft.

L.O.V. EVENelegance Foundation Brush

This is a basic straight cut buffing brush for your foundation. It's actually my favorite type of brush for foundation. I love short bristles, which are usually denser and you can really buff the foundation in or thin it out.

It reminds me a lot of Essence LE Bloom Me Up! blush brush which was my favorite for a while (and has started to fall apart). I bought a fake Zoeva 104 Buffer Rose Golden Vol.2 which also has a similar shape. But the difference with both is that these all have longer hairs and less density.

The bristles in this foundation brush are black, short and quite dense which makes it good for really buffing the foundation into the skin. By tapping it you can get a fuller coverage, but in general it's great for sheering out the coverage by really buffing it into the skin in circular motion.

It can leave stripes on your face, if you don't make sure to blend it out well. I usually buff it in and then use a tapping motion to go over those areas that can look a bit undone. 

L.O.V. HIGHLYconfidential Concealer Brush

I will say that I am not too keen on concealer brushes in general. For some reason I feel like I can blend concealer better with sponge or just my fingers under the eyes.

This one has a short round cut bristles that are a bit denser, but can still blend the product fairly well. I love to use it with cream concealers. I usually apply my Catrice Camouflage Cream in Wake Up Effect with it, because it picks up just enough of that creamy product and it sheers it out under my eyes, so I don't have a thick base under my usual concealer.

For blending out liquid concealers this can look a bit unblended. I find that the bristles move the product around, but don't actually make it blend into the skin. The bristles may be a bit too stiff for blending. I like to apply concealer with it and spread it, but I blend it in with my fingers. 

It's small enough that it fits well into smaller parts of the face like inner corners of the eyes, around the nose and such. I like that I can apply light layer of concealer in my very inner corner of the eye, which is usually dark and harder to reach with finger or sponge.

L.O.V. LIPlure Lip Brush

This brush looks pointed on that first photo. The bristles were a bit stuck together, because they were new. On the bottom photo you can see that it actually has rounded tip of the bristles. It's quite short, but just long enough to glide around the edges of the lip. The bristles are densely packed together which gives you a good coverage.

I actually love the shape of it. Usually, I've had straight cut lip brushes which were harder to apply lipstick on the actual cupid's bow. Some brushes have round tips as well, but they are too thin. This one is just wide enough for you to get a really nice rounded out edge. 

It doesn't give you full on coverage at first. You have to go over it with a brush a few times. I love the fact that you can really sheer the lipstick out with it, especially on the edges. I don't really use a lip liner with most of my lipsticks. The slightly sheered out effect on the edges of the lips, makes the application look a lot more modern and effortless. 

It costs 6.99€. 

Here you can see how my face looked like after I applied most of my products with these brushes.

I've cleaned all the brushes a few times and didn't experience any fallout of the bristles, except one that was sticking out of foundation brush. But it might just be a faulty one. In general, if you dry them upside down and make sure to not keep them on hot surfaces, all brushes should keep their bristles. Unless the glue is really crappy.

I also got this lovely promotional gift and it was L.O.V. fragrance which is sadly not for sale. It comes in a transparent glass bottle with black and red details. A good size to travel with.

It has a very soft floral scent to it and it reminds me of some perfume that I must have already smelled, but I can't figured out which one. Unfortunately, I am of no use at figuring out the notes by myself. But it's very subtle, gentle and kind of smells floral. 

To be honest, I didn't expect these brushes to be any good. For some reason I think black brush bristles are tough and scratchy. Don't ask me where I got that idea - maybe because cheaper brands had these kind of brushes a very long time ago. But these L.O.V. brushes are quite nice. I am loving foundation brush and recommend it to those that like to sheer out the coverage of thicker foundations or just want something that applies makeup really quickly. The concealer brush was a bit meh. I like it, there's nothing that much wrong with it, but I just use it more with cream concealers, as it blends those out better. For liquids I still prefer fingers or sponge. I also really liked lip brush. In my opinion it has that perfect shape that makes applying lipstick on the edges so much easier.

In Slovenia you can buy L.O.V. products in Müller. In Germany you can get products online here. 

*PR products. 

Somehow I've ended up with three different Clio eyeliner versions. I first bought Clio Kill Black Waterproof Brush Liner version. Later I wanted to reorder it, but I ordered Clio Kill Brown Waterproof Brush Liner version instead. At the last try they actually sent me the wrong one, they sent me Clio Kill Black Waterproof Pen Liner version. It means I've ended up with three versions. Which is kind of good, because I can compare them now.

Hey Beauties!

This past month has been all about Asian makeup for me. I'll talk more about that in my February Favorites. But basically, I've been watching a lot of Asian makeup on YouTube as well as browsing Asian online makeup stores. So today, I have for you a review of eyeliner from Japanese brand Diamond Beauty. It's safe to say that I am very impressed with it.