IQQU Essential Travel Set Review

Hello everyone!!! =D

How's everyone ^__^ I know I haven't been blogging much... but I'm still trying to keep up with the blogs out there :) anyways the reason why I've been so inactive is because I've been busy with my applications for pharmacy schools *cross my fingers* I have submitted 3 so far, but I'm applying for more. But anyway, the deadline's still a while away so I can go back to my usual business for now =D

So today... a wayyy overdue post-- review on the iQQU essential travel set brush! =D

Price: $29.99
comes with:
- a transforming kabuki brush
- a blush brush
- a foundation brush
- an eye shadow brush
- an eyeliner brush
- a lip brush

As usual I'd like to note that even I'm grateful that I got sent this for free, my review is still 100% honest =D
With that said, here we go =D

Here's Michelle Phan demonstrating the use of this brush set...


First of all, I want to say I'm not sure if this is a "essential travel set" or "essential airplane travel set"
So I'm just gonna start off saying if I was traveling, this set is not complete enough for me-- I would bring a stipling brush (so it double up for foundation/blush and contour), a face powder/kabuki brush, an eyeliner brush, a pencil brush, and at least two eye shadow brushes.

Second of all, I have to say, if I had not seen Michelle using this set, I'd probably thought the eyeliner brush is a brow brush, and the lip brush is the eyeliner brush O_O I'll explain as I go along

Now onto the brushes!

My favorite would easily be the transforming kabuki brush :D



- this travel size kabuki brush is wayyy better than the full size one! It is a lot more fluffy, therefore it picks up powder a lot a lot better than the full size one. I can pack on/buff on foundation with this mini brush, but not with the big one.
- very soft <3
- experienced some bleeding, and some shedding
- My face is rather small so I don't really need to "transform" it, however when I used it on my friends who have larger surface area than me XD transforming the brush does make application easier and effortless
- I really really like this brush and I'm actually using this on a daily basis =)


Next onto my next favorite brush... the eye shadow brush! This brush really reminds me of MAC 217 brush

- The shape and the quality of the brush is exactly like MAC 217... except better and softer lol! (I have to stress though I think I'm just extremely unfortunate to have picked up an extremely scratchy 217... cuz I haven't heard anyone else complaining about MAC...) but anyway love this brush <3
- I think there should be at least two eye shadow brushes in this set, or at least one pencil brush, because I'd usually use two eye shadows to create depth


Now onto the foundation brush...
-When I first received it I was like uh I'm not sure about this brush, for it is VERY rigid, I thought it will leave streak mark like crazy, but it actually doesn't ^__^
- I'd suggest at least wash this brush 5 times before using it... cuz I almost gave up on this brush when I first used it. Some hairs were really harsh and it really scratched my face! (And I cleaned it before using) So I cleaned it and put it away for a good 3 days before I decided to give it another chance. To my surprise it didn't feel as scratchy. So I continued using it and it doesn't really scratch my face anymore. I think you just really need to wash it to soften it up. But once past that, it's a very nice foundation brush, it leaves minimal streak marks, and is very firm. I actually prefer this brush over my Sephora foundation brush now, because my Sephora brush is very soft and bendy, and I like the firm hairs over bendy ones better if that makes sense :P

Next onto the blush brush

- I only have one thing to say about this brush... it's crap =_=
- As opposed to her white blush brush which picks up A LOT of product, this brush hardly picks up any product at all =_= Even if you can see the product on the brush, when you apply there's just nothing... like.. what the heck?!
- it is very soft though
- experienced some shedding
- This brush also doesn't apply that evenly
- I do NOT like this brush at all! Needs major improvement!

And the eyeliner brush

- Can you see why I thought it was a brow brush?! It doesn't have a fine tip, I swear, this should be the hair structure for a brow brush...

Compared to the iQQU angle eyeliner. You can totally see the difference in terms of the "fineness" of the brush tip
- I'm not sure why Michelle designed an eyeliner brush this way when clearly eyeliner brushes should be able to offer precise application, the only reason I could come up with is that this eyeliner brush is designed to use with eye shadow, cuz a less fine brush tip can definitely pick up powder a lot better. That's why I said I'm not sure if this is an "essential travel set" or just "essential airplane travel set"... I mean once I got to my final destination I will NOT be using eye shadow as my eyeliner...
- I won't use this brush as eyeliner brush anyway cuz it's hella scratchy =__= I used it twice and totally gave up. It was so scratchy and hurt my eyes so bad that my eyes started watering :(
- However this brush makes a great eye brow brush XD I was using it as a brow brush and it worked great. I actually sent this brush to a friend who just recently lost her brow brush since I don't really need it... lol. So by the time you guys read this, this brush is no longer in my possession XD

Lastly... the lip brush!

First off I just wanna say I don't really use lip brush... so this brush is kind of useless for me. However it is very soft and can double up as an eyeliner!

It reminds me of the free brush that comes with KATE gel eyeliner

- As a lip brush, it is very soft and does its job
- It can totally work as an eyeliner brush since it's very soft and has a fine tip, but it's not my favorite cuz with this kind of brush material, eyeliner gel tends to congeal easily, and I will have to wipe it off before I can apply more eyeliner.

Overall... um, I guess it can be a decent travel set if you use the lip brush as eyeliner brush and eyeliner brush as brow brush? But for sure if I was traveling I won't just bring this set, cuz I will definitely need another eye shadow brush/pencil brush to create more versatile look, so I guess it just really depends on the purpose of your trip. I can say though, if I was traveling with this set, I will bring my own eyeliner brush and blush brush, that's for sure XD

So that's all my thoughts on this set ... I neither recommend it or not recommend it... haha sorry >_< but I still hope this review is helpful to some of you :)

Oh and I want to thank everyone who commented on my Halloween post ^__^ Means a lot to me. And thanks Leenda for liking my nosebleed, yes yes I don't get to hear that every day XD makes me kind of want to sport a brilliant bloody nose and black eye every day... lol jk jk!

Until the next post, take care every one =D I will be back very soooon!

<3 Frances

Quick update on iQQU

 Hello hello!

So I'm sure a lot of you have read my review on my iQQU products review and how my white blush brush had fallen apart. I just want to post a quick update regarding my brush issue =)

A while back shortly after I posted my review on iQQU, I received an e-mail from iQQU director, Craig:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Dear Frances,

My name is Craig, I am a director at iQQU International and I have recently read your review in regards to our products.

First of all Frances, I would like to express our sincere appreciation for your support for iQQU.  Secondly, I am very concerned that you have received our white blush brush which the handle had fall off.  Frances, we sincerely apologize for defect of our brush.  We have instructed our QC department and to ensure that this will never happen again.  We have no excuses on our part except that we are not perfect, but we will do our very best to ensure that we will produce quality products.

Frances, I would like to send you a new iQQU Blush Brush.  It"s not right that you had to glue the handle back on.  We hope you accept our gesture.  In the meantime, we hope that you will continue to support iQQU and should any of our products do not meet our expectations, please do let us know.

Again, thank you for taking for your support and especially to take the time to review our products.


With best regards,

Craig Chau
Director
iQQU International"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Although I was sure if I contacted Michelle regarding the defected brush she would do something about it, I didn't because I was able to glue the handle back on, and after that the brush has been  in working order, so I didn't really feel the need to contact her (to be honest it didn't really bother me... I don't know why lol!) But anyways I was pleasantly surprised when I got this e-mail from iQQU.

So I'd been expecting to receive a new blush brush. And today I received a package from iQQU. I remember walking back to my apartment thinking to myself... why is it so heavy? It's just a blush brush?
I'll tell you why it's heavier than I expected =)

Dah la la... ohhh the package!



The blush brush... and ...............................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For real!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!
(In my excitement and haste I totally ripped the wrapping XD totally tried to put the set back to take the pic ahahahahhaha)

The new blush brush... I can totally tell this handle is a lot sturdier than my last one haha



The kind note from Craig =)

And the generous gift >_< the travel brush set!



I'm not gonna go into detail... cuz I will be testing it out and do an individual review =)
I'm so psyched to try it out!!! =D =D =D

So 5 stars for iQQU's excellent and proactive customer service!! I'm still astonished that they actually send me this gift set.

I noticed that I'm not the only person who had a problem with the white blush brush falling apart. If that happened to you, you shouldn't hesitate to contact iQQU, cuz they will take care of you =) (I'm not saying everyone who complained should expect a gift coming their way lol I'm already happy by the fact they took the initiative to contact me)

Talk to you guys soooooon

<3 Frances

IQQU Prodcuts Review!

*****************UPDATED ON  10/12/2010****************

So a while back shortly after I posted my review on iQQU, I received an e-mail from iQQU director, Craig:
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Dear Frances,

My name is Craig, I am a director at iQQU International and I have recently read your review in regards to our products.

First of all Frances, I would like to express our sincere appreciation for your support for iQQU.  Secondly, I am very concerned that you have received our white blush brush which the handle had fall off.  Frances, we sincerely apologize for defect of our brush.  We have instructed our QC department and to ensure that this will never happen again.  We have no excuses on our part except that we are not perfect, but we will do our very best to ensure that we will produce quality products.

Frances, I would like to send you a new iQQU Blush Brush.  It"s not right that you had to glue the handle back on.  We hope you accept our gesture.  In the meantime, we hope that you will continue to support iQQU and should any of our products do not meet our expectations, please do let us know.

Again, thank you for taking for your support and especially to take the time to review our products.


With best regards,

Craig Chau
Director
iQQU International"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Although I was sure if I contacted Michelle regarding the issue she would do something about it, I didn't because I was able to glue the handle back on, and after that the brush has been  in working order, so I didn't really feel the need to contact her (to be honest it didn't really bother me... I don't know why lol!) But anyways I was pleasantly surprised when I got this e-mail from iQQU.

So I'd been expecting to receive a new blush brush. And today I received a package from iQQU. I remember walking back to my apartment thinking to myself... why is it so heavy? it's just a blush brush?
I'll tell you why it's heavier than I expected =)

Dah la la... ohhh the package!



The blush brush... and .......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For real!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!
(In my excitement and haste I totally ripped the wrapping XD totally tried to put the set back to take the pic ahahahahhaha)

The new blush brush... I can totally tell this handle is a lot sturdier than my last one haha


The kind note from Craig =)

And the generous gift >_< the travel brush set!



I'm not gonna go into detail... cuz I will be testing it out and do an individual review =)
I'm so psyched to try it out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So 5 stars for iQQU's excellent and proactive customer service!! I'm still astonished that they actually send me this gift set.

I noticed that I'm not the only person who had a problem with the white blush brush falling apart. If that happened to you, you shouldn't hesitate to contact iQQU, cuz they will take care of you =)

************BACK TO ORIGINAL ARTICLE***************

Hello hello =)

So I got some IQQU products a while back, so this post is gonna be my thoughts on these products :)

For those who don't know, IQQU is the makeup line created by Michelle Phan, the most celebrated beauty guru today :)

But first off I wanna say, although I am a fan of Michelle Phan, my review is 100% honest opinion :) cuz I will be posting my review on her website too, and I believe she'd like to know how we consumers like/don't like her products so she can improve :)

I also want to mention that, the prices on IQQU products fluctuate a lot, so the prices I paid for are not the prices currently listed on the website.

So with that all being said, here we go =)

Little overview for the sunscreen and scrub:
I love that the products have expiration date printed on the product containers themselves not just the package boxes, cuz I usually throw the boxes away and it is most helpful to have that information on the container :)

1. Advance Sunscreen SPF50

Price: $19.99 (although currently $23.99)

I thought the packaging is TO DIE FOR. Never seen a sunscreen tube cuter than this ><

Hopefully you guys and read the ingredients and description :)



I just thought the little IQQU sticker is super adorable lol!

Now onto texture

Can't really explain what the texture is like... it is dry but also creamy... Right side is my Shiseido face and body sunscreen SPF60.

After blending...

You can see IQQU brightens up your skin tone (it has a pink tint to it). And I have to say it is the mattest sunscreen I've ever used.

My thoughts:
- I love that it's matte
- It breaks me out :( although my Shiseido one breaks me out as well so *shrugs* I think it's just me
- Is it makeup friendly? ... Ummm... I'm not sure about this... I mean it didn't really mess up my foundation, but it definitely moved my foundation. Also my blush most definitely disappeared after rubbing this sunscreen on.
- Although the sunscreen brightens up your complexion, it doesn't really correct your skin discoloration and stuff. Just want to throw that out there in case my pic looks misleading lol!

So if you're thinking about buying this sunscreen b/c it's supposedly makeup friendly... well it didn't work for me, I can only say that much lol.

2. Jasmine Rice Scrub

Price: $12.00 (currently $15.00)









the packaging is meh... looks a bit cheap but I don't really mind it lol

comes with a plastic lid


My thoughts:
- OMG it smells amazing... just like rice pudding... makes me wanna eat it ><
- the rice granules are very tiny and not as rough as I thought... but still a bit rough for me. I have to use very light pressure
- It leaves your skin feeling like... not moisturized, but a layer of something on your skin. Not uncomfortable or gross, kind of how you'd feel if you wear homemade face masks that contains olive oil, the same feeling you get after rinsing the mask off but without washing your face with cleanser
- I like my St. Ives better :P I'd say this is good to use if you haven't exfoliated for a long time lol definitely won't use it every other day
- Updated: This scrub is definitely way too harsh for my face, so I used it as body scrub... LOL


Now onto the brushes...

Overview:
-First off I want to say the "brush hairs" did exceed my expectations. I mean I wasn't expecting them to be bad but I for sure wasn't expecting them to be as good/soft as my Hakuhodo brushes (except probably the eyeliner brush) (although I'm not saying all my Hakuhodo brushes are all good... I did find some fault with some of them. Maybe I will do a review?)
-Her brushes are on the denser side.
- I would say her brushes are only for ppl who are committed to take very good care of makeup brushes, for that the brush handles are made of ebony wood, which she warned on the packaging that must avoid water and stay dry. I admit the ebony wood look amazing on my vanity, but personally not a fan of wood handle. Although they are more environmental friendly too, I feel like the handles will crack over time, just like my other brushes that have wood handle. Personally I wipe my brushes dry after every use so it's no big deal for me, but if you don't like the hassle of taking care of your brushes, I'd say avoid them.

3. White Blush Brush

Price: $14.99



- this blush brush picks up a lot of product so I'd say be careful when you load it. This brush is denser than it appears lol
- this brush sheds like CRAZY!!!!! which sucks when trying to use cream products cuz the hairs would stick to my face AND my cream products :(
- after 3 uses I noticed the the glue holding the ferrule and the handle came loose... and on the 4th use my brush actually came apart T口T I swear I didn't do anything I'm not supposed to with the brush!

Good news is I threw some super glue on them so they're one piece now *wipes away sweat*
I'd say if I'm paying $15 for a brush, this shouldn't happen at all...

4. Red Kabuki

Price: $19.99 (currently $23.99)

Isn't it adorable >w<

The leather pouch has "IQQU" embossed on it... which I think is cute :)

- The brush did bleed red a bit the first few times washing it, but it wasn't bad at all.
- It is a good brush :) it is dense, but it's also weird cuz this brush doesn't pick up as much powder as my other less dense powder brush. It works fine if you're just dusting a thin layer of powder over your face, but if you want to buff foundation powder on... I think this brush doesn't work that well in that respect.

5. Eyeliner

Price: $8.00 (currently $10) 



- It is made of nylon hair, which is soft enough that it doesn't irritate/scratch my eyes whatsoever
- However, when I compared the softness of the brush to my Hakuhodo... Hakuhodo wins... Not only my Hakuhodo brush does not irritate my eyes, it actually feels very comfortable and nice when I apply my eyeliner... that's how good my Hakuhodo eyeliner brush is.
- The handle is longer than I'd usually like but it actually is pretty well-balanced and doesn't impede my application.
- The handle of this brush bleeds a little orange... I was wiping it dry on my towel and now my towel has streaks of orange. So... use an unwanted towel for these brushes XD
- I want to be fair and say it is a good brush, however it is not my go-to brush. Personally I prefer smaller, narrower brush for eyeliner because my eyes are small. The size of this brush is typical of any angle brush.


Here is how it compares to my Hakuhodo brush:


 Lastly...
Shipping was $8, which in my opinion is a little much... (well I'd say free shipping should be offered for any purchase over $50... I'm pampered by Sephora :P) And I did wait for solid 2 weeks. To pay that much for shipping I'd expect faster shipping.

I think that's all I have to say for now :) Hopefully this review is helpful for some of you!

<3 Frances