E.L.F. Mineral Lipstick Swatches & Review

This review and swatches have been a long time coming, just because I wanted to make sure each of these lipsticks was consistent with what I've come to expect from the line-up. I first purchased one and then got my hands on 3 more. After putting them through the ringer and wearing these lipsticks quite a lot, I wanted to do a review. 

I would never recommend a product I don't personally love. And I've got to say, I *love* these lipsticks. They feel moisturizing and hydrating on the lips, the color is not too intense, in that it does not overwhelm the natural color of my lips. You can build them up to look as intense as in the tube, but you can also achieve a sheer wash of color with a light application. 

The shades I have purchased seem to have microglitter in them, this gives a beautiful sheen to the lips and isn't chunky or even really noticeable to the naked eye. With 16 shades with choose from, the mineral lipsticks only cost $5 each and I usually purchase mine during one of E.L.F.'s many 50% off sales. 

• Nicely Nude is a peach-toned nude lipstick with golden flecks of microglitter, I think it's extremely wearable and can easily be pulled off in any season, any time of the day. 
• Cool Coral reminds me of spring, it's a coral with fewer flecks of golden microglitter that blend in beautifully to the shade - I think this is a wonderful daytime spring/summer shade. 
• Barely Bitten is a "your lips but better" shade that gives just a nice flush of bright redness to your lips, almost like when you're out in the cold - again, I think this is a universal color. 
• Rich Raspberry is for red lipstick lovers, it's a deeper shade of red which borders on a berry, I love this for nights out and rock it readily throughout all seasons. 

And of course, I decided to show you what these shades look like on my lips (which are fairly light red pigmented). 

My personal favorites are Barely Bitten and Rich Raspberry as I think they suit a fair skin tone so well. I'm not a huge fan of nudes because I feel that they wash me out, but seeing as this one has some pink to it, it's one I can more easily get away with than a cooler-toned shade. 

Next time I place an order, I'll definitely be picking up some more of these tried, tested and true favorites.

Urban Decay Electric Palette Eyes of The Day

Since the latest craze is the Urban Decay Electric pressed pigment palette (which is now available for purchase), I love that everyone's getting into springtime pops of color! I decided to use it for my look of the day, which is a green/blue mermaid-like combination.

Here's a quick guide of the colors I used to achieve this look from the Urban Decay Electric Palette:

I started by working from the inner corner out on my eyelid. In the inner corner, I placed Revolt and patted that on gently to get a saturated color. I find that this palette works best in patting motions and gentle blending rather than swiping back and forth to get a concentrated pop of color where you want it. I then went in with Thrash on the middle third of the eyelid. I put Gonzo on the outer 2/3rd's of the lid, layering it over Thrash for a nice transition color. I used Freak and blended the colors up into my crease, making sure to go in with a clean brush to clean the top of the shade up to the browbone. Then I used Slowburn at the very top edge of my crease where I placed Freak and I made sure to blend it out so that it looks close to my skintone for a very natural warmth to the look.

On the lower lash line, I simply used Freak to line the outer 2/3rd's of the eye and carried Revolt to the inner corner of my eye.  For mascara, I used Benefit's They're Real and to line my eyes, I used Stila's sparkle waterproof liquid eye liner in Starry. The colors ended up overwhelming my eyes and they were starting to get lost in all of the color, so I decided to place some half-lashes to finish up the look (I think this makes my eyes look bigger, especially since it draws out the outer corners).

If you haven't seen my review of this palette complete with swatches, make sure to check that out if you're interested in purchasing it (since it is quite pricey at $49 for this medium-sized palette). You may, or you may not know, that there is a disclaimer/warning on the palette which states that the colors Slowburn, Savage, Jilted and Urban are not FDA approved for immediate eye usage. I interpret this as meaning that you probably shouldn't be using them on your eyelid if you have sensitive eyes but you could use them in your crease and upwards. I wouldn't recommend putting these colors on your waterline but I have used them on my eyelid and I didn't have any adverse reaction.

Glossybox March 2014 Unboxing

This month's Glossybox had 7 items for me and arrived very late (today, March 28th) which is not unusual for this subscription service. This subscription service costs $21/month (sometimes you can get various deals on it, however) and I used the promo code GBFRESH to get a bonus fresh Lotus Youth Preserve face cream (full size!).

My box contained the following 7 items:

Alterna Haircare Bamboo Luminous Shine Mist - value $5

Jelly Pong Pong Lip Blush - value $18 (Full size!)

Alex and Ani Scent 7 Soap Bar - value $14 (Full size!)

Nails Inc. Polish (color Baker Street) - value $4 

Sisley Paris Black Rose Cream Mask  - value $28 for deluxe sample

Fresh Lotus Youth Preserve Face Cream (new subscription code for March) - value $14.82

Alex and Ani Swan Charm Bangle (bonus item) - value $28 (Full size!)

TOTAL VALUE: $111.82

The Fresh Lotus Youth Preserve Face Cream was a bonus item I received with the code GBFRESH. I've received this in a box before and I really loved the way it made my skin feel as well as the scent so I was excited to get another one. The value of this is $14.82 but it really does feel more luxurious than that!

Alex and Ani was a featured brand this month for Glossybox. The brand was nice enough to include a Swan bangle (you could have received either gold or silver, mine was silver - $28 value) as a bonus item for all subscribers. We also received either a hand lotion, body mist or bar soap from them. I received the soap bar ($14 value) which I'm okay with but I would have preferred the body mist! I love the scent, it's sort of woodsy and spicy and manly (that's great considering my husband will probably use it all). 

Here's a picture of what the bangle looks like on:

The most disappointing part of this box for me was the Jelly Pong Pong Lip Blush (value $18) and the Nails Inc. nail polish in Baker Street (value $4) - now while these products are fine products, I have received them before in August and July of 2013 from Glossybox and I'm not loving the repeats :(. I have emailed their customer service to see if they could send replacements for these items. I took a photo of what the lip blush looks like on.

Another issue with my box was that the Alterna Haircare Bamboo Luminous Hair mist (value $5) leaked all over the box since the top pump was loose... this has happened to me quite a few times over the past 6 months so I think I'm just having bad luck with my subscriptions lately! The last item is the Sisley Black Rose Cream Mask which I'm excited to try, I'm loving the rose scent, though! This is a very luxurious and expensive product, with the full size retailing for a whopping $158/2.1oz (the sample is valued at $28)!!!

Wet 'n Wild Spring Collection: Flirting at the After Party

I bought the Wet 'n Wild Flirting at the After Party 8-pan palette from my local Duane Reade (I wasn't able to get my hands on Walking the Red Carpet from the Spring Collection, though) and I took about a week to play around with it and give you my honest opinion.

The packaging is the same as the other Color Icon palettes by Wet 'N Wild except it is white instead of black. The color-payoff of the shadows is good, except slightly more powder will kick up than classic palettes such as Petal Pusher and Comfort Zone. I do have to say that the swatches are going to be pretty terrible as the lightest shades are almost identical to my very fair skin-tone (NC15 on a good day). You will notice that many colors appear very similar and only very minor differences can be detected between some. All colors have been swatched to appear more concentrated a couple of times and no primer was used.

Wet 'n Wild Flirting at the After Party palette - daylight

Specifically, the Left Eyelid and Left Definer colors are extremely similar, they are both aubergine eggplant shades (both darker than the Left Crease which is more of a Lavender shade). In the pan they are also both very similar to the Right Definer shade, however, this shade comes off with much more of a brownish tint than a purple one.

Wet 'n Wild Flirting at the After Party Palette - ambient light

Here's a look I was able to create with the palette.

- Left Eyelid color all over my lid
- mixed the Browbone colors and highlighted my browbone with them right under my eyebrow
- used the Left Crease color and contoured the crease of my eye
- used the Left and Right definers (mixing both of them together) to define the outer corner of my eye

Finishing touches:
-  Jordana Best Lash Extreme Volumizing Mascara
- Jesse's Girl black liquid eyeliner
- Rimmel Scandaleyes waterproof kohl in Nude on the upper lash line
- Starlooks Gem Pencil in Topaz on the lower lash line
- Milani Liquif'Eye metallic eye liner pencil in black outer third of bottom lash line

 I do notice that I can recreate a very similar look with some of the shades in my Petal Pusher palette. I recommend getting this palette if you're a fan of Wet 'n Wild or if you're lacking some purple eyeshadows. The formulation isn't the best I've seen from Wet 'n Wild but it's still a lot better than most other drugstore eyeshadows. The pigmentation is definitely there and if you're a huge fan of orchid, this is the palette for you. If you already own lots of makeup, I'd say skip it, you probably already have dupes in your collection (MAC's Beautiful Iris comes to mind).

E.L.F. Studio Large Brush Holder Review

A long-time favorite of mine is the E.L.F. Studio Large Brush Holder. This retails on the elf website for $15, but since they frequently have 50% off sales, I purchased mine for $7.50. It reminds me of the makeup holders that MAC has their brushes (or used to) in their stores and it looks very luxurious and high end. Don't mind the  powder smears on mine, it's well-used and well-loved. It is also very easily cleaned with a wet cloth or paper-towel, I just haven't gotten around to it for awhile.

The container itself has 3 compartments with 2 dividers, it has a matte finish with a soft rubberized feel reminiscent of the NARS packaging (which E.L.F. is notorious for duping in much of their packaging for blushes and lipsticks). These are fairly generous compartments with each one fitting more than a typical mug might (particularly because there are no tapered edges at the bottom).

The angled view of the bottom reveals that I have added some Adhestive Grips to the bottom since there aren't any on the actual product, this gives me the added security that the brushes won't all fall over if I accidentally hit it with one of my palettes when I'm in a rush to get ready. 

The overhead view really provides a good angle of just how much I was able to fit into this brush holder. My brushes are separated by type, with the left-most compartment holding eyeshadow brushes of all shapes and functions (53 eye brushes in total), the middle compartment holding foundation/concealer and smaller powder brushes (13 in total) and he right-most compartment containing large face/powder brushes (10 enormous brushes are housed here). There is even more room in each compartment and I could stuff it even more, but I like to leave room so I can easily handle my tools.

All in all, I think this is a great, inexpensive and professional-quality purchase at a really affordable price. It's not the most glitz or glam, but I find that it doesn't stick out in my room and it actually hides the fact that my brushes are so dirty (I figure a white container would probably make my brushes look VERY dirty).

Product Review: Lorac 3D Liquid Lustre Set

I recently purchased the Lorac 3D Liquid Lustre set from the Rockin' Red Hot Collection (this came out for the holidays). I got it for $16 on Hautelook, which I thought was definitely a steal compared to the $28 it retailed for originally. These are sort of a strange formula which originally looks like 2 layers, one is a bunch of dense glitter that settles to the bottom of the glass container and the top is a more clear tinted liquid. Before usage, these should be shaken well to mix the glitter and the medium.

The color choice gives a nice variety of looks which can be achieved, but the one thing I believe they all have in common is that they shine in the evening, which I think is the ideal time to pop these on top of your muted daytime look to achieve a glittery party look! This product feels luxurious and high end and is not associated by a particularly high price tag - considering I only paid $4 per each of these, they definitely feel worth it! I love rocking glitter (even during daytime) and these can be used on your eyes, face, and anywhere else on your body you want to sparkle!

Here's a look I spruced up with a little bit of the Amethyst sparkle! It gives a nice subtle finely milled glitter which easily applies with a brush (or your finger) and you can make it more or less dramatic depending on how much of the product you layer on.

Look created with Wet n Wild palette "Flirting at the After Party", Lorac 3D liquid luster in Amethyst, Jordana Best Lash Extreme Volumizing Mascara, Jesse's Girl liquid eyeliner, Rimmel Scandaleyes waterproof kohl in Nude, Starlooks Gem Pencil in Topaz, and Milani Liquif'Eye metallic eye liner pencil in Black 

Without further ado, here are some swatches:

Lorac 3D Liquid Lustre Set - Indoor Light

 You can create a look with less or more sparkle, depending on how you concentrate the formula on your eyes, it will dry and completely set - this is much more mess-free than applying a medium and then glitter on top with a brush. These definitely take the guesswork out of which medium you should use and which glitter is eye-friendly. I do not recommend using these on your waterline, however, as no glitter is ever safe to use that close to your eye (it can be quite painful and even scratch your cornea if it goes inside your eye).

Lorac 3D Liquid Lustre Set - Flash

 As you can tell, with flash photography, these look absolutely metallic and stunning. The diamond shade veers a little pink even though it is meant to be colorless.

Lorac 3D Liquid Lustre Set - Day Light

E.L.F. (EyesLipsFace) Smudge Pot Review & Swatches

I'm so excited to bring you this new review of the ELF Smudge Pots! These are an ELF dupe of the Maybelline Color Tattoos and they offer a wide variety of colors (I hope they add more to this) and the website sales apply to this product (recently they had a 50% off new products sale which I took advantage of to pick up the entire line for $9!). These smudge pots used to retail for $2 but were recently increased to $3 (thanks to reader Renate for this info), which makes them a very affordable alternative for cream eyeshadow, seeing as the Color Tattoos retail for $6.99-8.99.

Look created with ELF Smudge Pots

This is a look I was able to create with the following:

• Cruisin Chic all over the lid
• Poppin Party in the crease
• Pearls of Wisdom as browbone highlight
• Gotta Glow in the inner corner of the lid
• Ocean Bound as lower lash liner
• Ain't That Sweet? on the inner corner of lower lash line
• Supplemental products: Jordana Best Lash Extreme Mascara (black), Chella Indigo Blue liquid liner, and Jordana Fabubrow eyebrow pencil (02 medium brown)

The formula of the lightest three of these shades (Pearls of Wisdom, Ain't That Sweet? and Gotta Glow) is thicker and you have to warm the product up with your finger to get decent color payoff - these are definitely the most sheer shades. The rest have a more mousse-like consistency, softer than Maybelline Color Tattoos and the darker shades have the best color payoff.

ELF Smudge Pot Swatches natural lighting

 Hit the Town looks like a medium gray in the pot but really comes across in swatches as a mixture between gray and brown, more wearable than just a straight-up gray. Pearls of Wisdom, Ain't That Sweet and Gotta Glow work best as highlight colors or can be used in looks that require just a slight wash of color, and also make fabulous eyeshadow bases.

ELF Smudge Pot Swatches indoor lighting

 Gotta Glow would make a nice highlight for a look featuring Back to Basics, Cruisin Chic or Brownie Points. Cruisin' Chic is a taupe, Brownie Points is essentially a copper, and Back to Basics is a true wearable gold.

ELF Smudge Pot Swatches with Flash

Poppin Party appears fairly scary in the pot, but when swatched it is a beautiful and easily work and blended out eggplant color (it's definitely not a saturated clownish purple). The same goes for Ocean Bound, which is more of a smokey blue than a true bright electric blue. 

I highly recommend these, especially if you can purchase them for 50% off on sale. If you have multiple color tattoos then you will definitely see similarities between these shades and the ones you already have. Maybelline's Caramel Cool is very similar to Brownie Points (they are a few shades apart with Brownie Points being slightly darker), Gotta Glow  is a more gold version of Barely Branded, and Pearls of Wisdom is a more sheer and less metallic version of Too Cool. You will find similarities but you will not have exact dupes of colors, so I think it's safe to say you can add these to your collection! Happy shopping!