2/01/2025

Aymorder 10-piece Nail Art Liner Brush Set

I was lured by this 10-piece set of nail art brush liners due to the variety of sizes and the good price. I risked the purchase as they could have been terrible. But they are not! Sure, they aren't a professional artist set, but I didn't want to spend a little fortune on a professional set. I wanted this to start getting familiar with this type of brush and to work on art journal and small paper projects. They're befitting.
 
I use them with acrylic paints/inks and they work well overall. They would have been better if they had slightly thicker bristles but, you know, these were a bargain and are not intended for artwork. They make good long flat and curvy lines with ease but, due to the bristles not being strong enough, sometimes the lines aren't clean. It might be me, as I'm just getting used to them. They're perfect for people with small hands and they're good quality despite the bargain price and the fact that they were intended for nail art not painting.  These brushes work better on flat paper (e.g. art journal pads) or on surfaces that have none or little texture (e.g. cold pressed watercolour paper).  

The brushes are easy to clean and can be kept in water for a long time without worry. The 'crystal' handle material hasn't deteriorated at all despite my tendency to forget brushes in water all night or for several days. The synthetic bristles get bent when left in water for long, but they recover their shape easily by drying them out with a paper towel and pressing them back into their flat shape with my fingers. 
 
I haven't used these for nail art, so I cannot comment on how they work for that purpose.

Yitexin 20-piece Alphabet Stencils 4x7in (18x10cm)

This is a generous set of alphabet stencils made of good quality stencil material and with different lettering styles, so you can use them on different projects. Due to their size, these stencils are great for art journaling, scrapbooking and school art projects. The quality of the cutting is good. However, there are some design inconsistencies within each template, something that bothers me. Good priced.

Uni-Ball Signo 1mm Gel Pen -- Gold (UM153.25)

This Uniball Signo metallic gold gel pen is fantastic. It produces clean lines and is great for accents on craft and painting projects. However, this is not a lightfast or permanent marker, so you would need to use a fixative if you want the colour to stay. The gold colour is on the greenish side, not bad, but not my favourite tone of gold.

L’Oréal Magic Retouch Permanent (Dark 5 Brown)

This is a new product in the L'Oreal Magic Retouch range. I use the spray to cover greys when I haven't had the time for colouring. However, the spray only lasts till I wash my hair. So this mini-tint package is great. It has the same quality permanent colour that you find in the full box, but in the right amount to cover my part line and temples but also some of the sides of my head. 

The box contains a dispenser bottle with an brush attachment, the jar with the colour and a very good and useful instructions leaflet. I mix the product as per the instructions but I never use this colour, or any other, directly from the bottle. I always pour it into a professional tinting container and use a professional tinting comb as these allow a more efficient use of the product and I get better results.
 
I'm very satisfied with the results as the tint covers my greys perfectly, the colour looks beautiful, it does not irritate my scalp, and has a mild odour. 
 
Now the downsides. The first one is this, like other L'Oreal tints I've used, dries my hair noticeably. The colour looks great, especially if you put a dark colour on, but I also noticed that my hair is less soft, freezier, and feels dry to touch. This being the case I have to put a full mask and then use tons of Moroccan oil to compensate. Being honest, we're meant to leave the product 10 minutes on only, but I tend to leave it 30 minutes as I have rebel thick greys and otherwise they would not get properly covered. So, be aware that if you use it longer than recommender, this might be your case as well.  

The second downside is this. The price of this bottle is almost identical, sometimes the same, sometimes a couple of dollars down, to the full box. However, the latter contains more quantity and a great shampoo and conditioner. So, to me, the full box is better value than the MR version, and it serves me better as I have a large amount of greys all over my head. Magic Retouch is better for guys or just girls with short haircuts or just people with not many greys.

Sally Hansen Nail polisher remover (Strengthening Pink)

Nothing fancy or hoo-ha about this nail polish remover. It does the job, it does not smell too bad despite being acetone based, and removes thick coats of paint with ease. If I wanted to strengthen my nails, I'd rather use a purpose-made nail strengthener. I don't think this NPR was designed to strengthen your nails, just not to further damage weak or flaky nails by adding lanolin and hydrolysed wheat protein. So, the result is that this NPR is gentler on my nails than others. Good-priced and it does the job.   

1/13/2025

Ohuhu Mixed-Media Spiral-Bound Art Sketchbook (120lb/200gsm, 210x226cm)

I had my hesitations about a 200gsm paper being good for mixed-media. However, after using it, I can confirm that it is. 
 
I tested the paper first without gessoing the page to see what the paper would stand. It was great for almost everything, except for the fact that scratches for textural purposes show on the back and there is a limit of liquid that you can use before the sheet warps.
 
This paper didn't react well to my lifting masking liquid with a normal eraser (which would not lift anything), with my fingers (lifted just a bit), or with a hard rubber (which lifted the masking tape and the paper as well). I think it's a combination of both the masking tape being too thin and the paper not resisting much friction. 

On the other hand, none of the materials I used bled (acrylic markers, inks and different paint viscosities; water soluble pencils, among others).

My second test was done after applying a coat of liquid gesso to the page I worked on. I was able to do a bit of more stuff on it but, again, the paper wraps if you use a lot of liquid or flow paint. It still did not bleed and stood some of my rubbing a bit better. A thick gesso coat would improve workability but it would also add weight, and that would be counter-intuitive. 

The pad comes with a silicone protector to place between the sheets, something that is extremely handy and prevents transferring of any bleed onto the page underneath. On the other hand, I'd have loved this silicone sheet to be 1 cm longer on each side so that it protrudes a bit and protects the edges of the pages underneath, which were totally stained. For the rest, this silicone sheet is really good and it can be easily cleaned with a damp cloth under running water.
 
The pad sheets are micro-perforated, just in case you want to use any to create specific pieces of artwork, not just as a sketchbook.  Unless I was drawing or using dry materials, I would not want to cut the pages out for anything.

The back cover is thick and sturdy, and this is a great support to the bulky pad. However, the front cover it's too thin to my liking and not strong enough to keep the pad well protected or hold it properly. Yet, this pad is really good priced for what you get.  

1/06/2025

Asnabyya Half-Face Reusable Respirator Mask & glasses

I got this to use with spray paint or when I use a art sealing sprays as they smell awful, are very toxic and, even if you go outdoors to spray, the wind can bring the spray back to my nose. This is a complete respirator affordable set that contain a pair of large acrylic glasses, a respirator adjustable mask, and several replacement filter pads for the breathers.

I have a small face and prescription glasses so this set is not the best for me. Firstly, as my face is small, wearing the acrylic glasses and the mask at the same time has proved impossible, because there is not enough room on my face for both to coexist. Besides, as I wear prescription glasses that I need to wear to see, even if I don't put the acrylic protective glasses on, they sit on my face awkwardly because the nose part of the respirator doesn't allow them to rest on them properly. So, this is a respirator set perfect for men or for big humans in general. For the rest, I haven't been able to properly click in the plastic pods over the filters pads, no matter how hard I tried. Assembling the other parts was simple and straightforward.

I've used this respirator several times already and I can see/notice the difference, as I cannot smell anything even when I can clearly see the 'fumes' close to me.

In short, this is great respirator if you have a big face or a re a man or don't wear prescription glasses.