Happy Holidays!

Since all my other dance posts have been so well received, I thought I'd share my latest. This time I even have some pictures that show off my makeup!

Lash Mania Ardell Evil Queen Lashes
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Here's what I can remember that I used:
Face:
Primer: Benefit POREfessional
Foundation: Cover Girl Whipped Creme Foundation Ivory 305
Contour: MUA Bronzed Perfection
Highlight: MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighting Powder
Powder: Gurelian Meteorite Pressed Powder Teint Rose
Cheeks:
Blush: NARS Orgasm
Eyes:
Primer: Urban Decay Primer Potion Greed
Crease: Coastal Scents 88 Color Palette (bottom two greens)
Lid: MakeupGeek Gold Digger & Glamorous
Highlight: Makeup Geek Shimma Shimma
Liner: Eyeko Skinny Liner Black
Waterline: Maybelline Eye Studio Gel Liner Charcoal
Mascara: Benefit They're Real
Lashes: Ardell from the Evil Queen set.
Brows: MUA Eyebrow Kit
Lips:
Liner: MUA Lip Liner Red Drama
Lips: e.l.f Matte Lip Color Rich Red

With my dear friend & dance sister Kim before our performances.

And now for my dance... It's just a fun holiday dance. I really enjoyed performing this.

I hope ya'll enjoy and have a safe and happy holiday season!

Brush Battle: Coastal Scents v. e.l.f. Stipple Brushes

I like to use a lot of cream blushes and I tend to apply them with a stipple brush. The first stipple brush I bought was the e.l.f brush a few months ago. I just got the Coastal Scents Stipple Brush in mystery box. Let's see how the stack up against each other.

Coastal Scents Stippling Brush and e.l.f Stipple Brush

• Overall Design: The Coastal Scents brush is longer. I tend to hold it close to the ferrule anyway so that doesn't really make much of a difference to me. The handles are slightly rounded for grip. Winner: Tie

L to R: Coastal Scents, e.l.f.

• Bristles: These are both made with synthetic bristles. The Coastal Scents brush has thinner bristles that are more densely packed. This definitely gives a more controlled application. The e.l.f bristles are a little bit stiffer and not as soft against the skin.  Winner: Coastal Scents

• Durability: I've had the e.l.f. brush for a few months and I use it fairly regularly. I haven't noticed any shedding and there has been minimal fraying of the bristles. Cleans easily.

e.l.f bristles

The Coastal Scents brush starting shedding immediately. I've washed it a few times and it still sheds. I find bristles stuck to my face or in my blush. There are also more bristles that are going off in their own direction. I also had a very difficult time getting this brush clean. I really had to work in the brush cleaner and let it sit to get this brush completely clean.

Coastal Scents bristles

This is only after a few weeks of off and on use. Winner: e.l.f

• Price: These are both reasonably priced. Coastal Scents is $6.95 available on the Coastal Scents site. and e.l.f is $3 available on the e.l.f site Winner: e.l.f
• Overall Winner: e.l.f. This is a great brush for the price and has held up nicely. I do wish the bristles were a little bit more densely packed but I will still reach for this over the Coastal Scents brush. 

Coastal Scents Mystery Box

Awhile back Coastal Scents was offering these mystery boxes. I believe they originally sold for $50. I picked mine up when they were on sale for $19.99. I had seen a few other people post about them and the contents looked decent and I love a good mystery box. This seems like a mixture of discontinued, slightly irregular factory faults, and sale items.  Here's what was in my box.

Mini Contour Brush & Mini Lip Brush

I tried to use the Mini Contour Brush for cleaning up my cuticles after painting my nails but it didn't work very well. You could possibly use it for really targeted blending. The lip brush would be good for travelling or throwing in your purse for touch ups.

Classic Stippling Brush, Classic Shadow Large Natural & Medium Natural, Natural Fan Brush, and Classic Blender

I like that I received a mixture of synthetic and natural brushes. I always love trying new brushes. I've been using the Stippling Brush for apply cream blush. I'm going to do a comparison with the e.l.f Stipple brush soon. I haven't decided what to do with the Large Natural or the Natural Fan brush yet. I gave the other two to my sister who had no brushes.

Mineral Shadows: Balara, Ignite, Figi Twist, Lace Sparkle, Lagoon Mist, & Emerald Sapphire (sample)

Five full sized mineral shadows! I actually don't use a lot of mineral makeup though. These colors were all recently discontinued. Balara is a dark brown color unlike the orange tint it has in the photo.  Ignite is a light brownish pink. Fiji Twist is a bright sunshine yellow. Lace Sparkle is a light mauve. Lagoon Mist is periwinkle. Emerald Sapphire is a cool toned sparkley green. These can be applied wet or dry. If you're interested in swatches let me know. I may just put most of these in my trade pile.

Mineral Bronzer

I was all set to send this straight to the trade pile but this seems light enough that it won't just make my complexion look muddy. I'm going to give it a shot.

Quad Eyeshadow Palette: ??, Peach, Deep Grape, New Penny

This quad was being sold as a dramatic look for green eyes. I'm a blue eyed girl and I don't think I can pulll off this combination. The mystery shade and Deep Grape are matte colors. The mystery shade is very sheer. Peach has a satin finish. New Penny has a more metallic finish. You could easily pop these out and put different colors in. I have a medium and small Z palette though. If I need to travel, I just put my selected colors in the smaller Z palette.

Whimsical Lashes

I love lashes. I don't have a pair with this crisscross pattern so I'm pretty excited about these. I usually only wear lashes for dance performances though. Not sure when I'll get around to trying these out.

I also received a bottle of facial cleanser with grapefruit and green tea extract. It foams up out of the bottle and has a very fresh and clean scent. I haven't tried the African Black Soap yet.

For what I paid, I definitely think I got my money's worth. There are some products I definitely wouldn't have picked up on my own. What are your favorite Coastal Scents products?