MAC 239 vs. Sigma E55

Before purchasing my Sigma brush kit a year ago or so, I tried asking around on MUA, which brand people liked better for brushes, Sigma or MAC. By that, I quite frankly meant: Are the MAC brushes so much better than the Sigma ones, that they are worth me spending so much money on them.
Obviously, people had different opinions. However, I noted that one person told me that the Sigma ones can do just as good a job as the MAC ones - except for the MAC 239 brush, which that person said simply could not be duped.

Lucky for me, I already had the MAC 239, so I decided to purchase a Sigma Make Me Blush kit, and definitely do not regret it. Don't get me wrong - I do own a few MAC brushes and I absolutely love them - but I also feel that spending so much on brushes doesn't really make sense, when I can get almost the same thing for a lot less. I'm not a professional makeup artist, makeup is my hobby, so why not just spend the extra money on actual makeup, then?
And yes... I do admit that the fact that Sigma has pink brushes, might have played a small role... a girl never gets too old for a little bit of pink!

Above to the right, you can see the MAC 239 brush (the lower one) and the Sigma E55 (the upper one), which is supposed to be a "Sigma version" of the MAC one. Both of these brushes are meant for packing colour onto your eyelids.

Now, as you can tell from the top picture, and the one to the left, the Sigma one is bigger and thicker. This is both a good and a bad thing. Since the MAC one is smaller, it can fit into the corner of your eye more nicely and it is precise enough to be used for placing shadow under your lower lashline as well - the Sigma one is too big for this. I also find that the MAC brush delivers more colour to the eye - the shadow's pigments seem to transfer better with it.
However, the Sigma brush does a good job when dealing with glitter - and it is my go-to brush for that. That being said, I don't use glitter on my eyes very often, so for me, the MAC brush is a winner here.

Definitely worth the money, and although you don't feel like splurging on all the MAC brushes, I think you should check the MAC 239 out - it will be your best friend before long!

What do you think? Have you tried either one of these brushes? Tell me!

Love,
Miss Diorista

Finals are over - and a haul!

I can't believe it... I finished my finals yesterday! Those three weeks and eleven finals really did fly by, but I can't tell you how glad I am to finally have the time to sleep, think, relax, write, blog and tweet and... haul! Yay! This haul is my own award for powering through eleven finals :) Most of it is nail polish, but I also got a super-duper deal on a MAC brush and a Dior blush, so I couldn't be happier!

L-R, starting with the upper row:

• Sally Hansen - Insta-Dri in Mint Sprint. This is a very pretty dark minty polish with a cream finish. I was actually looking for a mint polish, have a favourite you want to share? I'd love to hear of nice minty shades!
• Maybelline - Forever Strong Professional in Green Miracle. This one promises a "zero error" brush, and I look forward to telling you if that is true, since such a brush would be revolutionary for those of us who can be slightly clumsy with their polish (I'm guilty as charged!)
• OPI - Big Hair... Big Nails. I've been loving loving loving the jelly finish from the new OPI Texas collection and this colour is just so pretty!
• Sally Hansen - Complete Salon Manicure in Polar Bare. I bought this for French manis, but now that I've swatched it on paper, it seems very light... I'll figure something out ;)
• Sally Hansen - Complete Salon Manicure in Naked Ambition. This is such a pretty one, it's a peach colour with shimmer. Love!
• Depend Cosmetics - Cracked Effect in White
• Depend Cosmetics - Cracked Effect in Purple
• Depend Cosmetics - Cracked Effect in Pink
• Make Up Store - Reflex Cover in Light. They say this is a miracle for your under-eye area, for brightening after concealer. I´ve been thinking about buying this for half a year or so, and decided that it was finally time!
• Purederm - Vitalizing Orange Pads. Those are so cute, and I'm hoping that they will be as vitalizing as they promise!
• MAC - 162 brush. My MAC was having a sale on discontinued and LE products, and I got this brush 30% off! It is amazing for precise highlighting and contouring, for example around the nose, where a usual contouring brush is too big.
• Dior - Diorshow Powder in Spotlight Peach. Another shop was having a 40% off sale on some products, and I was so happy to find this beautiful peachy blush. Love the packaging too.

Have you been hauling anything lately? Share ;)

Love,

Miss Diorista