Brands You Need to Know!

​I've not been posting as regular on here as I like, I have plenty of good excuses but excuses are just that....excuses. So why you bore you with them, right? I have been making notes...per usual, of things I want to talk about. If you're ever wondering what my thoughts are on products and such then I suggest you follow my Snapchat (loveandmascara. I give LENGTHY snap stories and talk about various products. It's usually all content related 80% of the time with the other 20% being a little bit of life outside of business. 

One thing I wanted to discuss was a few brands that impress me immensely but I find they're extremely underrated. I was actually working on this before hand as just a list of brands that were impressing me and my friend Rhea said I should do a post on underrated brands....so here we are. Thanks Rhea.

Top brand, hands down, is JD Glow Cosmetics. I'm telling you folks, if you love intense shadows, especially if you are a working MUA, then you need to get acquainted with this company. Their pans are basically double the size of standard shadows like ABH, MUG, and MAC. They're the same size as Sugar Pill if that gives you any reference. My favorite line from them is the Galaxy Line but I have now tried every line they have in shadows and they are all amazing. Like really amazing. You need to see Anomaly from the Galaxy line. There is no other brand that has their style. They offer other products as well. They just released Highlighters and they are super nice as well. Plus, they're also huge. They will be coming out with their own magnetic palette soon but I have mine in the XL Makeup Forever metal palette. I could go on forever about them, I really could but I won't. Their shadows run $7.50 AND they are no stranger to sales around holiday weekends and such. Plus they are super nice. 

Another brand that immediately came to mind was Viseart. I get mine from Frends Beauty but they're also at Sephora. They are by no means un-heard of in the beauty industry but I just don't hear much about them consistently. Their range is designed for the working MUA. No frills, no bullshit, no crazy packaging and bandwagon trends, they stick to their vision and I love it. Their eye shadow palettes tend to scare a regular customer off because of the price which I believe is $80. You get a lot of grams though and what I can say is that once you get a palette that you would use everyday, like for me it's the Warm Matte palette, you will find that you reach for it every time you do your makeup even if you're doing something different. It's the first thing you pack for a trip, it's your go to for events for yourself or if you're doing someone else's makeup, it's very much a must have for every one who genuinely loves makeup and appreciates quality makeup. The shade colors don't look ground breaking or new but what I can honestly tell you is that I have never used a palette where two shades were just slightly different in color and it actually transfer to the lid that way. Like most shadows that are similar in shade look the same on the eye when applied, not Viseart shadows, they show up and they keep their color no matter how neutral or light or dark they are. It blew me away the first time I used them. So much so that I happily bought another palette and yes I use their eye shadows every single time I do my makeup in someway or the other. 

We're not just going to discuss makeup brands though, we're gonna take it to skincare now. Ebanel Skincare is one of my favorite brands. It's available on Amazon. It's affordable and it's effective. It's hard for me to pic a favorite product because I truly do like them all but I think I would pick the Vitamin C10 Serum. It's pure Ascorbic Acid which is the purest form of Vitamin C and you can feel it working. It's not gritty it's a simple serum that absorbs nicely. As far as packaging goes and it being in a dropper bottle I've had mine for a while and it's not changed from clear to yellow or anything so there's no coloring in there to throw you off as for when it's not suitable to use anymore. It's just absolutely amazing. They have an awesome Hyaluronic Acid and Peptide Serum, along with a very nice eye serum, two different types of sheet masks, a Retinol Moisturizer, etc. I love every product they have. 

Kinda keeping with skincare but also being a bit of makeup as well is Erborian. I don't think they'll be flying under the radar much longer because their CC Creme is impossible to catch in stock. For good reason, it's very nice and in the summer I love wearing it instead of foundation. I also love their new Glow Creme, I add it to my foundations and sometimes use it as a base, it's very light weight and beautiful but not intense. I like their Solid Cleansing Oil, it breaks down makeup exceptionally well. I also like using it when I'm doing facial massage. They're a smaller brand but they pack a punch with the products they have and I love it. 

Now I'm gonna move onto hair. It is probably no surprise here, Amika is my favorite. For one reason....Nourishing Hair Mask. I refuse to be without that mask I buy it in the big tub because I love it so much. It is the only hair mask or conditioner that I can use that doesn't weight my hair down and make it look oily, all while making my hair incredibly soft. I don't know how they do it, but they do. I use it sometimes as a mask that I leave on for a few minutes or I use it as a regular conditioner and rinse it out immediately it works fine either way. I also love their Dry Conditioner. That is definitely my 2nd favorite. I never thought I would like something like that but especially when my hair is "squeaky clean" or it's dry using the dry conditioner makes it soft and looks so much better. I'm a big fan of the Perk Up Dry Shampoo as well, when I use dry shampoo that is. I also really like the hair spray. So I don't feel like I can go wrong with that brand. I like other hair brands too obviously but this brand has the most products with a different function that I like the best. If that makes any sense. 

Some honourable mentions would be:

• Indie Hair Products: #Cleansweep shampoo. Amazing.
• Algenist for both skin and makeup (particularly their CC Pressed Powder and Luminizing Drops)
• Makeup Geek: I don't think their too underated anymore but they're still a newer brand.
• Sugar Pill: They're popular among artists but I wish they were mentioned more because they deliver with their products. The quality and pigment of their products are insane.
• Wet N Wild: I know everyone has heard of it but I feel like it's overlooked and their Photo Focus line is phenomenal. From the Foundation, Concealer, Pressed Powder and Photo Focus finishing spray they do a great job for a price you can't beat and their eye shadow palettes even way back when, have always had such nice pay off. 

There are plenty more that I could rattle off but I'll leave it here for now and perhaps we'll do a part 2 later. 

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