A few weeks back I mentioned that my sister and her husband travelled the Middle East for a couple of weeks and then being the awesome people that they are, brought me back some swoon-worthy makeup goodies from Sephora. Over the next few weeks there will be Sephora branded makeup product reviews up on the blog and I can already tell you now that I love each and every product. Of course there are a few faults here and there as there will always be room for improvement in products but it is definitely worth checking out. I have used products from the Sephora brand before  like eyeshadows and a lipstick that Desle spoilt me with so I knew that I was in for a treat. A little side note before I get into the reviewing of the products: I take all of my product shots before I start using/reviewing products so don’t ever think that the products are new and I haven’t used it before. I just feel that clean looking products makes for much better photography as opposed to dirty products which is inevitable when it comes to makeup palettes.First up on the review front I will be telling you about my travel brush set. Now if you read my blog some time last year, you would know that I swear by my Glamore Cosmetics Kabuki brush set so finding a new set that I could travel with had to be just as amazing good. I mainly wanted a travel brush set because I didn’t want to travel with all 10 of my Glamore brushes and I really want to keep them in the best condition for as long as possible. I got gifted a 5 piece set which consists of A powder brush for applying pressed or loose powder and blush. A medium-sized brush for applying light-coloured base eyeshadows. A thin eyeshadow brush for precise application of dark eyeshadows and for graded effects. A sponge-tipped brush for easy eyeshadow application. Lastly an eyelash/eyebrow comb with a brush side for grooming eyebrows before applying eyeshadow and a comb side to separate eyelashes and remove excess mascara.This travel brush set retails for 59 AED (R219.31) at Sephora in Dubai Mall. The bristles are super soft and my most used out of the five brushes are the powder, eyeshadow and precision brush. I don’t care for sponge applicators or those type of brow brushes. The handles of the brushes are quite sturdy and I can definitely feel that it is of great quality. I have to say though that I experienced some shedding in the beginning and I am led to believe that it is common in new brushes. Even though it is supposedly common, it lowkey freaked me out because I don’t want to be forking out R219 for a travel brush set that is going to shed. Some comforting in the situation is that I did however wash it already and there was no shedding again. If I have to compare these brushes to any brand that is available in South Africa then I would closely, if not identical match it to those travel sized Essence brushes and it even compares in appearance. The brushes picks up product like a dream and the powder brush is particularly my fave one as it makes blush blending super easy and brushes away ‘baking’ effortlessly. Next up is the 2 in 1 kabuki flex brush which is one the products that I was most excited to try as I don’t own a brush like this in my collection. At first glance it looks like any other powder brush but it in fact is so versatile and nifty. The bristles may appear hard and coarse but it is quite wispy and gentle on the face. I have used this brush for setting my entire face with powder, some blush and even contouring. Contouring you ask? Yes contouring! Let me show you how…When you “flex” the brush, it is so perfect for contouring and buffs out any harsh lines. This 2 in 1 kabuki flex brush retails for 84 AED (R312,23) and is definitely one of my favourite brushes in my collection. I have noticed that if I were to not store this brush correctly and at least give it some proper TLC then it would definitely lose it’s shape and start shedding. To keep its shape and prevent it from getting ugly in my makeup bag, I do store it in its original packaging. If you feel like spoiling yourself, I would definitely recommend this brush as it is my go-to for setting my face with a powder after foundation. Lastly I was quite intrigued by this product because it made some bold claims that I wanted to test out and see whether it would match up to its expectations. The last product that I will be chatting about is the Daily Makeup Brush Cleaner that requires no water/rinsing. I thought that it would be such a nifty product to have in one’s beauty arsenal if it really did what it claimed to do. On the bottle it states that you should spray the bristles of the brush with 3-4 spritz in order to remove light traces of makeup and then dab it onto a tissue. I am happy to say that it works like a bomb! Of course it is by no means a replacement or substitute to washing your brushes but rather a short term alternative to using a brush that you simply don’t want to/cant wait for it to dry.The Daily Makeup Brush Cleaner retails for 38 AED (R 141,25) for 60ml and I think it is such a handy product for makeup artists that has more than one client booked in a day. At first I thought that this product would irritate the living daylight out of my skin but to my surprise there’s no alcohol in it. It consists of lemon, lime, grapefruit, and tea tree oils that help to clean brushes naturally while conditioning and protecting hairs. Surprisingly this product dries down within a few seconds and you can immediately use it. It smells quite refreshing and not in any way artificial.

So that is a wrap of some of the products that I received from Sephora UAE. I will post another Sephora review sometime next week. I have to admit that Sephora has become quite pricey…or maybe it’s just the South African rand kicking us beauty lovers in the lady parts. All the more reason to get this brand/chain to SA I’d say! With some of my fave bloggers/readers jetting off abroad, do you see any product that catches your eye?