erm... Kosmetik Kosmo.

Kosmetik Kosmo is the online shop of a german youtuber, she also has some own products sold on there. normally i don't sympathise with this youtuber's-shop-thing, especially when i notice intensive self-promotion on the youtuber's social media platforms.
from trustworthy sources i have heard that these particular products i ended up to purchase have a decent quality, so i drifted from my reluctance to order from such shops - well, with cosmetics my flesh is usually weak even when the will is strong :P
when browsing the online shop i was happy to find very good swatches/pictures and thorough information on each product, as well as some videos where the youtuber showed some looks created with the products and how they look applied.
i especially wanted to try their own brand's gold eyeshadows on my search for a good NARS Etrusque dupe. and since i was curious about this brush in particular for a long time anyway, it was allowed to hop into my shopping basket ;)
i paid about 4€ for the delivery, my order came with UPS within 3 working days.

i ordered two eyeshadows in refill pan form, they contain 1.5g and cost 3.99€ each (while the compact costs 4.99€) and are the same size as MAC pans (26mm in diameter). they are not magnetic, so i had to stick magnets on the bottom to keep them in my MAC palette. i ordered the shades "Braungold" (brown gold) and "Grüngold" (green gold) from the metallic line.

Braungold is a very intense honey  gold shade that reminds me of curcuma or curry powder. it has a strong red gold shimmer and is a really really warm shade.
 

here i'm wearing it on the inner 2/3 of the lid:

Grüngold is a cool gold with a green tint, it pulls more like a chartreuse on me. it has a metallic finish.

i'm wearing Grüngold on the inner half of the lid:

both eyeshadows are smooth and have a velvety feel. they are softly pressed and the product pay-off from the pan is rather high. i find that the Grüngold shades tends to ball up a bit more than Braungold. the pigmentation level is high for both shades, although Braungold is especially opaque. both shades apply evenly and blend out well. fall out is very little. on a good base these shades last all day on me without creasing. these are good eyeshadows but i don't know if the non-metallic shades also have the same quality, at least they appear more sheer from the shop-swatches.
oh, and both are NO dupes to NARS Etrusque (but you will get a proper comparison later ;)).

the brush is a blush brush from the KK brand - it's called Rouge Rosi and costs 10.99€. i really dislike the name. it's a limited edition version with pink bristles (these brushes once were limited to 1000 pieces (like a year ago), i have No. 129/1000 but i don't know what the matter is with this when they still haven't sold out yet...). it's handmade in germany - i don't think this should be a major buying argument especially with brushes though.

it's a rather big size for a blush brush, comparable to the size of my MAC 129. it has a round shape which is nice to blend in your blushes with the brush tip in circular motions. i find it too big to place your blush colour precisely.
i only ordered the LE version because i think white goat hair is softer than dark. it's made of pink dyed white goat hair, it's quite soft and feels smooth on the face. it's fluffy but densely packed and has a good flexibility. it's suited for sheer blushes that you can apply on bigger areas since the goat hair picks up a good amount of product (when compared to squirrel hair). i initially wanted this brush to use as a small powder brush, it acts well in that function, too.
i have washed it a few times now, although it fluffed out a bit, it didn't bleed out pink dye. it lost about 10 hairs until now, nothing major. it doesn't smell and the handle quality is also good. so overall it's a very good brush for the money.

pre-wash

post-wash

comparison

to regular blush brushes:

MAC 116 - Kosmetik Kosmo Rouge Rosi - A'Squirrel Pure Squirrel Blush Brush - MakeUpShow Blush Brush H02

MAC 116 - Kosmetik Kosmo Rouge Rosi - A'Squirrel Pure Squirrel Blush Brush - MakeUpShow Blush Brush H02

 

to round brushes:

Hakuhodo 210 - MAC 109 - Trish McEvoy Face Blender #48 - ÍPSA Brush 2 - Kosmetik Kosmo Rouge Rosi - Essence Blush Brush - Hakuhodo Large Pointed Yachiyo

Hakuhodo 210 - MAC 109 - Trish McEvoy Face Blender #48 - ÍPSA Brush 2 - Kosmetik Kosmo Rouge Rosi - Essence Blush Brush - Hakuhodo Large Pointed Yachiyo

are these the best brushes ever? - and a great great great blog!!

i've been splurging big time on some brushes over the last months. let me warn you that this post won't cover the review for them - it's more like a preview for the next few days.
these are RMK and ÍPSA brushes, japanese brands.
but to tell you about how i discovered them, i have to introduce a blog to you first.


i want to tell you about this fantastic blog i have been reading all the time over the last month:
Ars Aromatica.
i don't know why i just recently discovered this blog although it exists since 2008. Dain, one of the authors of this blog probably is in the top 3 most competent persons that i've came across so far when it comes to ... well, anything beauty-related. reading her blog opened my eyes in many ways, it's like reading in a really good book about beauty.
if you seriously want to know the real basics about make up i strongly recommend you this blog.
i can't say enough good things about Ars Aromatica - it felt to me like when i discovered Lisa Eldrigde on youtube. like you found a gold nugget in the mass of pebbles. her "The Beauty Primer" series simply is genius. period.
for example i have enjoyed her post about make up brushes soo much - the best article i have read about this topic ever.
if you want to follow this blog, you can subscribe to her posts via atom or use the "follow" tag on your blogger navigation bar (i can't find GFC or Bloglovin' on your blog, Dain).


ok, back to the brushes: i came across the RMK brushes and Chikuhodo as a well known japanese brush manufacturer through Dain's post on brushes, i browsed the official website of Chikuhodo a bit and was really tempted to order their top-notch Z-Series brushes. they produce brushes for RMK, Shiseido, Kanebo, SUQQU (which i wanted anyway) and many other high end brands. unfortunately i can't speak or read japanese and the google translator doesn't help much when it comes to search for the contact form to order...
so i thought: well, i could buy some OEM brushes from them to try and since SUQQU is incredibly expensive (about 180£ for the face brush :( - i'll get 'ya someday! i would have bought them if Selfridges London wouldn't charge 56£ only for the shipping and they were sold at a much higher price point on ichibankao.com (for example the face brush would be ~300€) - but this is another topic) i went for RMK - the brushes look great on every online pic anyway.
then i found another online store that offers japanese high end brands and most important: these brushes at a reasonable price (about 50$ per brush on an average) - they ship for free on orders over 30$. they have tons of other cool stuff - check out bonboncosmetics.com!.
RMK is also sold in the UK, i have often seen their products on popular uk-online shops (but never the brushes -.-) and Wayne Goss (Gossmakeupartist on youtube) had mentioned their products many times.
let me tell you for now that these brushes are serious  - i would rate them on the same level as the luxury brushes by Hakuhodo, maybe slightly above Trish McEvoy, a mile above most brushes by MAC. the japanese know about their artisanry!
prepare for a few brush-posts in the next days ;)

if you have tried them or these brands in general, please leave a comment so we can talk a bit ;)

NARS Etrusque - oh i wanted you soo much!!!

in my gold-eyeshadows-craziness of the last weeks multiple times i went raptures about NARS Etrusque eyeshadow ... how i regretted not to get it when it was released last holiday season, how it would be such a beautiful rich gold that surely won't pull orange on me, how i bought soo many possible dupes for it, only because i couldn't find it anywhere online. but the solution was just right next to me - i was searching too hastily and didn't recognise that i had to look up the "shimmery" eyeshadows on the official NARS online store and only didn't find it on the first page (which only included matte eyeshadows) - again thank you Lena for informing me! i don't know if it's now part of the permanent range, though, since it's not available anywhere else than on the official site and may be is the remaining stock.
so i bit the bullet and ordered from the narscosmetics.eu online shop (where everything is quite a lot more expensive than buying from the uk on hqhair.com with some voucher codes...) - i paid 24€ for this little sucker and 8€ more for shipping. so 32€ for a single eyeshadow is a real big chunk so this better meet my expectations!
it came really quickly within 3 days or so and was packaged rather impressively secure.

the rest of the packaging is kind of self-explanatory, a small rubberized compact with a mirror. it contains 2.2g.

the feeling of finally opening it was great, of course. it's already so beautiful in the pan - a rich true 24kt gold with some bronze hues. i looked at it in awe for quite a while before i could dare to touch the surface haha
it has a fine and soft texture and is highly pigmented. i am really impressed that it's not of the foil-like metallic gold type (like those i even had in my eyeshadow palettes from Zoeva or Coastal Scents) but is a shimmery, luminous, dimensional gold . it applies evenly and intense without fall outs and blends out beautifully. luckily it really doesn't pull orange on me and wears all day without creasing. it's so shimmery and light catching, it meets all my expectations and i just love love love it. i've been wearing it in every recent eye make up - i think this is my most exciting purchase in a looong time.

look #1 smokey&gold

smokey eyes with NARS Brousse eyeshadow duo and NARS Etrusque in the inner half of upper&lower lid,  black liner

look #2 - warm chocolate brown & gold

NARS Etrusque in the inner 2/3 of upper lid and inner 1/3 of lower lashline, NARS Galapagos (from the Essential Eye palette) in the outer V, MAC Vanilla Pigment to blend out, Chanel Rose Platine eyeliner on the lower lashline with NARS Etrusque slightly dabbed over it, upper lashline with smudged out Essence Gel Liner in London Baby.

look #3 gold & bronze & teal

NARS Etrusque on the inner half of the lid and inner third of lower lashline, Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Silk Eyeshadow #6 in outer parts, MAC Vanilla Pigment to blend out, Chanel Rose Platine on lower lashline, Max Factor Metallic Turquoise liquid liner

new blog sale now online!

i've created a separate blog hosting my newest blog sale.
head over to check it out!          ----> here <----

i'm separating from many MAC items (MSF's in Petticoat and Stereo Rose, Marine Life powder, and a lot more!!!!!)

oh my god i killed my Edward Bess Brush :((((( !!!! - see how i've revived it, though.

oh noooo!!!!!! look how badly i've broken my beloved Edward Bess Luxury Eye Brush :*( it was one of my favourite eye brushes, i really loved it (click here to see the review and its appearance in my favourites)...
i initially wanted to photograph my tools and stuff of a FOTD and threw all of it onto my bed. when i then crawled over my bed to collect them altogether to bring onto my windowsill i cracked something with my knee, and almost collapsed when i recognized that it was this brush. i think it rolled under my bedspread since i didn't see it at all. i could've cried when i saw that it was totally cracked and since the handle was made of metal, i could not even glue it :(((((((( and only taping it would not provide enough stability.
why must this happen to me? why on earth this brush and not the cheapo lip brush that just laid next to it? :(((

but then the craftsman awaked in me since i couldn't bear another 38€ for this brush - if i wanted to achieve full stability in the handle i would have to put something like a wood plug between the two parts. and since my asian household is also known as  "arsenal for all kinds of chopsticks", the idea quickly came to use them as my wood plug. so after few minutes of trying which version would fit the most, i came up with these "tools"...

so for everyone who has accidentally broken their Edward Bess Luxury Eye Brush and lives in an asian chopstick-arsenal - this is what you'll need to fix it:

• a chopstick, best is the bamboo conical type - the round shape fits tightly inside the handle&ferrule of the brush
• a bread knife. or a small wood saw if you're more of a craftsman than i am.
• black super tape. 

first, i sawed a piece off of my chopstick, only to see that it was still too thick. then i chose the middle part of the chopstick and it fitted tightly but was too long (the handle of the brush is not hollowed over the full length), and i needed to saw a bit off, but then it was perfect.

i still needed to secure the junction and used a small stripe of the super tape (this has the fabric in it so it's super durable).

so that's the finished result...

of course it's not as nice as before but it's very sturdy. now i have to be even more careful with washing it. i hope it will survive a long time. but i must admit that it really bugs me and i will purchase a replacement when i have a larger budget.  for the moment it's the best it can get.


i'm sure none of us haven't once broken a make up product ... what about you? what was your most painful make-up-accident?