Saturday, September 13, 2014

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz | Review


Eyebrows frame our faces, so having nicely groomed and natural-looking eyebrows can truly transform an entire makeup look. The Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz pencil has been a cult favorite in the makeup world, and I can understand why.

Yes, $21 for just 0.003oz of product can be a hefty price to pay, but I personally haven't found a brow pencil with as good of a color match for my asian black hair and works better than this Anastasia brow wiz (Sephora's brow pencil comes close and is only $13).

Here is a link to my blogpost with a bunch of eyebrow pencil swatches to match jet black hair.

I love that this one pencil is the only product/tool I need to complete my everyday brow! This dual ended pencil has a fine tip on one end and a dense spooly brush on the other, allowing me to easily define my brow, fill in sparse/bald areas, extend the end of my brow, and groom stray hairs. If I want a more bold and defined brow, I will use the brow wiz in combination with the dipbrow pomade in "medium brown" (see my dipbrow pomade review here).

Depending on the occasion, I'll use brow powder when going for a softer look, gel/wax for a more defined brow, or a combination of brow products +/- concealer to clean up edges; but because those require additional tools (separate brush), my go-to for my brows is simply a dual-ended brow pencil.

Related post: see my review of the ABH dipbrow pomade here
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Money saving tipEbates cashback program is offering 8% cash back for Sephora (sometimes they offer 10%!). Also, my Discover credit card offers 10% cash back for Sephora.  Definitely look for cashback bonuses before you purchase!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


PROs:
- excellent color selection (currently available in 9 different shades)
- the shade "granite" is a very natural match for my black asian hair
- ultra fine tip allows for precision and a natural finish
- spooly brush works well to tame stray hairs and blend out harsh lines
- easy to blend out
- retractable pencil requires no sharpening
- lasts all day 

CONs:
- Pricey! Retails at $21 for 0.003 oz (I bought mine from Sephora)
- Not entirely "smear-proof" as labeling claims. The color tends to fade if touched too frequently.
- Fragile; because the tip is so slim/fine, it can be easily broken if you're not careful.


Before and after the brow wiz application:
Please excuse my stray brow hairs; I'm currently in the process of growing out my brows!

Overall, this brow pencil is one of my favorites because it's precise, gives such a natural finish, and is so easy to use; in my opinion, it is very hard to 'mess up' on your brows using this brow wiz pencil. I am planning to try some Asian brands (ie Lioele) in hopes to find a gray color brow pencil that will look natural with my black hair.


More photos:
Packaging the brow wiz comes in


"granite" is the perfect color match for my black hair


I wound up the pencil all the way when I bought it to see how much product we really get.
You can definitely go through one pencil in just a few weeks if you use it on a daily basis.


Since the pencil is ultra fine, I only wind up a bit of product at a time.
This ensures the tip will not break.


I seriously love this spooly brush. It's a must to brush out any harsh lines.




Eyebrow pencil swatches that match dark brown/black hair (blog post w more photos here)



Do you have a favorite brow product?
Any recommendations for brow products to match Asian black hair?






Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Free iPhone 6 Wallpaper / Backgrounds



The iPhone 6 and 6 plus were officially announced this past week and preorders started just a few days ago. I've been on team iPhone ever since the 3GS and am personally a huge fan of the seamless and clean interface of iOS.  It's safe to say I plan to purchase the iPhone 6 in a few weeks, so I want to have some backgrounds/wallpapers to choose from. Here is a collection of various iPhone backgrounds that fit the iPhone 6*. Enjoy! Just click on the image to save / download for free.

*These will not fit the iPhone 6 Plus as those dimensions require 2662x2662 due to it able to display landscape mode when rotated.  Most of these iPhone wallpapers are 750x1334 or 900x1600 or 872x1635 (parallax compatible dimension) to fit the iPhone 6.

For my other post for more iPhone 6 wallpapers, visit my post here!
For winter/holiday themed backgrounds, visit my other post here!

Beach / Sunset iPhone 6 backgrounds:






 



Misc Nature iPhone 6 backgrounds:

 










       



Cityscape & Building iPhone 6 backgrounds:

 


 




Abstract iPhone 6 backgrounds:






   










 



Space / Galaxy iPhone 6 wallpapers:
  


  


Jellyfish iPhone 6 wallpaper backgrounds:
 


Simple Vector Style iPhone 6 wallpaper backgrounds:

 
 

 

  


  


 







 








Darth Vader iPhone wallpaper:




Superhero iPhone 6 wallpapers:
  



Miscellaneous:





  


  






Thanks for stopping by!