Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Elf Natural Matte Lip Color

Another Elf review! I feel like doing other posts, but I figure while I have a lot of Elf products to review, I might as well do them all at once, right?  Besides, doing them every day is helping me keep up my blog, and feel better about only having 2 posts in June... Enjoy!

Elf Matte Lip Color in Natural




I... don't really know what I think about this product. The first time I opened it, I opened it and noticed that the actual lip product when you twist it up all the way looks kind of... rough.  Not really pristine. 

See what I mean? Kinda bad. And a little blurry. And looks a little like a... Well, I'll leave that up to your imagination.

The first time I put it on my lips, it definitely wasn't matte. It seemed a little oily right on the outside of it, and didn't actually put any pigment on at all until I layered more on.  After that first time, though, it worked a lot better.  It actually is fairly matte, but the color is a little too light for me, it being matte too is just too harsh.  Very nude.  Really better for lighter skintones, unless really nude lips are your thing.  

This is not just a chubby lipliner. I like to use it underneath other lip colors, yes, but I don't think that it increases last time on anything. It's lasting time is pretty decent, though.  Though wear time goes down with a gloss, and I have to wear it with one to look acceptable on me.

All and all, I recommend this product, and I feel that this color would look really pretty on fair skin tones... So basically, just try it out if you like a color.  It's cheap, so what do you have to lose?

Do you prefer matte lip colors or glossy ones?



Saturday, July 21, 2012

Elf Candid Coral Blush

So, I didn't buy at this blush at the same time as the other Elf products that I'm going to review, but I've been planning on reviewing this for a while and this seems as good a time as any.

Elf Candid Coral blush.





Okay, even though you can't see the swatch very well, believe that I swatched it really, really heavily.  It's hard and kind of sheer, but I still really like it.  It's a pale peachy-pink with very strong golden sheen. It isn't too frosty, or glittery at all, it just reflects gold.  So, on me, it acts as both a blush and a highlight.  It adds very little color, but I don't like for my blush to be too strong, and I really like how it looks. It's very wearable.

The packaging is very sturdy, although, you have to admit that it looks kind of like NARS packaging, as Elf tends to do sometimes.  The small window makes it kind of hard to see the color and the finish, so that's kind of a design flaw, but I guess that's what my pictures are for!  And the sticker that has the name of the product on it is very small and not very attractive.  Not a fan.  It's so small that my camera couldn't focus on it.  That's why there's no picture.

All and all, I love this color, and I think that it's good for light to medium skintones.  It really wouldn't show up on a darker person, unless maybe they used it as a highlight, because it only barely shows up on my skintone, and I'm about a C3 or C4 is MAC colors right now. (If you don't know the C's because I didn't, that's around a NC30 or NW30.) I recommend this if you like having a blush that's hard to overdo, and are maybe looking to try a blush with a sheen. I used to only like matte blushes, but this one has changed my opinion, because it's so subtle.  Like I said, the texture is a little hard, but it's not too bad. 

Do you prefer shimmery or matte blushes?

Friday, July 20, 2012

Elf Black Cream Eyeliner

I'm back with another product review! I had to replace my gel eyeliner because my last one sucked and I just couldn't use it anymore. So, I went to Target with my friend, and bought some Elf products, and those will be my next few reviews.

Elf black cream eyeliner.





It is a little more black than this picture shows, and it while it looks pretty glossy in that picture, it's a little more matte once it dries. 

First of all, the packaging. I love it. I think that it's really cute, and functional. The square shape makes it easy to store. Also, it's plastic, unlike the coastal scents one, so it won't break when I drop it! Which, trust me, I will.  

I don't know if eyeliners that are labeled as cream are generally more creamy than those labeled gel, but this eyeliner is so creamy.  It's creamier than a MAC paint pot.  I touched it, and the color instantly came up on my finger with no pressure. I, actually like this. It's really, really easy to apply on the the upper and lower lash line, since it's so creamy, but it's not so bad that it easily transfers to my upper lid when I blink, like what happens with liquid liner that isn't dry yet. 

There's a slight bit a of a learning curve with this liner, just because when you dip a brush or a pencil into it, it's really easy to accidentally dig into the product and get too much.  This makes it really awkward to apply.  It's also hard for to get an even line on the waterline, because since it's so creamy, it doesn't set on the waterline very quickly and it just wipes away. 

It also comes with a little angled liner brush. It's very flimsy, but since this product is so creamy, it picks up just fine and works a lot better than I thought it would. The flimsiness actually provides flexibility that helps me, personally with application.

 I really like this product, and I hope that it continues to perform well, especially for $3. I'm definitely going to check out the other colors. I've been eyeing the dark blue one...

Are you skeptical of products as inexpensive as Elf's?

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Crashing Waves

 Two looks two days in a row? What's this? Very strange... 

Well, this look is for the Makeupbee Inglot tropical looks competition, and I'd really appreciate a vote, so if you want to you can right here.  This look was obviously inspired by the ocean, and I tried to make the liner look kind of like a wave. It only sort of worked, but I think that it looks okay, regardless of it's lack of resemblance to an actual wave.  Be your own judge for that, though. 

 



So, my face looks sort of weird in this picture... But I thought that the eyes 
looked good, so I put it in anyway.








Eyes:
  • Too Faced Shadow Insurance
  • Urban Decay Clash shadow pencil
  • Urban Decay Zero eyeliner
  • MAC Climate Blue eyeshadow
  • Urban Decay Hijack from the Book of Shadows IV palette
  • MAC Surf the Ocean Crushed Pigment Stack (navy shade)
  • Wet 'n Wild Blue Had Me at Hello
  • Urban Decay Moonshine cream eyeshadow
  • Sephora pearl eyeshadow
  • Urban Decay Perversion eyeliner
  • Clinique mascara
  • Urban Decay mascara
Cheeks:
  • Benefit Hoola bronzer
  • Estee Lauder Peach Nuance blush
  • Elf Candid Coral blush
Lips:
  • MAC Lush Amber





 I hope you liked how this turned out! Not exactly wearable, but if you just took off the eyeliner, then it's a really pretty smoky eye. Very, very metallic.  Usually I hate frosty colors on the brow bone, but they're growing more and more on me.

If you have any look requests, I'm kind of on a kick with them right now, so feel free to ask! Oh, and I want to start doing a series, because they're really fun, so if you have any ideas for those, that would be great too. Talk to you soon!

Monday, July 9, 2012

Smoky Mountains

I'm so sorry that I've been so MIA on this blog, and even more on Youtube... I don't even have a very good excuse. Well, except that I've been gone for about a week to West Virginia on a service project, and this is the look that I wore on the way there, hence the name.  I don't think that I have too many neutral looks on this blog, so enjoy!










Eyes:
  • Too Faced Shadow Insurance
  • Maybelline Color Tattoo in Tough as Taupe
  • MAC Club
  • L'Oreal Cobalt Smokes quad
  • Urban Decay Gunmetal eyeshadow
  • Urban Decay Creep eyeshadow
  • Highlighter from a no-name palette
  • Urban Decay Perversion eyeliner
  • Some random mascara...

 Okay, so it's really just a basic smokey eye... Well, it's not even really a smokey eye, it just has the colors of one. And it was only really inspired by using MAC Club as my transition color, and I think that it works really well since the green reflex in it gives it a pretty cool tone to it.  Maybe it wasn't the best look to wear for 8 hours in the car, though.  Hope that you guys have fun vacations this summer, and feel free to tell me about them in the comments!