Random haul & guilty pleasures & more randomness....

WHOO Walking into Winners (its just like Marshalls in the USA; 60% off designer stuff and retail stuff), I never expect what there is to find. What i like about that store is, there is always surprises. I usually go straight to the make up section, then look at the perfumes, bags and sometimes clothes. When there is nothing else to look at, I go to the cooking section and to my surprise, I found something super useful and cute! Yeah my doggie wanted to be in the shot XD
Basically this mug makes it look like your having Take out starbucks coffee but its reusable and its eco friendly =D. Cool Beans cool beans....Its made out of plastic but the green part is a rubbery holder thing which comes in many other colors, but green is my favorite color =).

It comes with a twisty top which totally made me look like a fool at the store. I was trying to just take it off and i was like "WHY IS IT NOT COMING OFF!!" Then my friend was like "Its a twisty cap dumb fart". Haha my bad =P. The originally price for these are about $10 retail price, but I got it for $7.99 + 12% tax so it comes around $8 something. Not bad not bad.

Also I think it was on Wednesday that I went to fast with putting mascara on my bottom lash with my mascara brush and accidental shoved it in my eye. Not a good idea. Yesterday it started to swell in the tear duct area.
Today I woke up to this :'(. It kinda hurts to blink. The doctor said that its a pimple in my eyelid. Thats soo gross, and now i have to put some cream medicine in my eye lid. ugh...so gross

I also got this simple dark navy stripped shirt from Bluenotes for $10!! its pretty good quality too. I think my taste has turned into European style. Actually I've always had the European taste, but I never actually bought anything like that to spark my imagination. The locket is from forever 21 in the states. I'm digging simplicity.

My favorite lollipop..CHUPA CHIPS!! These ones are better cuz they are mini~ I can't finish one big one. Yeah this is total randomness...but I want a break from reviewing makeup products haha. So Peace~ till next time

ELF mineral lipstick

Lipsticks...where do i begin? Their soo pwettyyy =3....yeah I think my new addiction is lip products. Its not even funny how much lip products I buy but never use. SAYYY WAHHT?? I mean its like starting off with eyeshadow for the first time. I was all shy with my make up so I sticked with browns and neutrals, but now I'm all like bright orange and pinks and all that jazz. Same goes for lipsticks which I only tend to use the nude lip look.

Basically these I heard a lot about on Youtube (ex: Lollipop's HG natural nymph as a dupe for Gosh Darling I believe?) and was very curious about these, but don't really wanted to shell out $5 each. I know thats not really a lot for a lipstick, but if you get as much as I do then it does really add up.

ELF company claims: "Now you can hydrate your lips and get a lasting soft color naturally! This nourishing blend of exotic oils, natural waxes, vitamins and plant extracts create the perfect moisturizing formula. The sleek lipstick has superior color payoff, glides easily onto lips, and is long wearing. Lips stay perfectly hydrated and soft throughout the day for no fuss, lip loving happiness. All our mineral makeup is 100% mineral based with no parabens, no preservatives and no chemical dyes."

-yes it is quite nourshing
-can't really agree complety with the superior color payoff
-yes they do glide on your lips
-average length of wearing time
-kinda drying

These all come in a nice sleek packaging with its logo on the top of the lid and on the side. For "Made in China" this is pretty high quality. The lid snaps on very nicely, and the lipstick glides on of the tube flawlessly. Thumbs up for packaging. The finish of each tube is quite like the handle of a MAC brush, plastic but with a slight roughness to it.

The lipsticks itself glides on your lips like butter and has a nice color payoff. Only one of them is a sheer finish but other then that, its all good.

Oops, BTW i think I labeled pouty petal and cool coral wrong...its vice versa.

Conclusion:

-price: C+ ($5 each)

-packaging: A

-product quality: B

-Overall quality: B

-Buy again? Only a few--> Natural Nymph and Runway Pink

ELF All over color sticks

After watching one of Kim Kardashian's how-to make up videos on Youtube, I felt very inspired to use a color stick or tint on my cheeks before I put my foundation on to give that really nice flushed look. I have been eye-ing these for a long time, but I always tell myself I don't need it since I have hear a lot of reviews saying that it isn't good. I guess I'm one of those people that won't be satisfied till i actually have it.

ELF Company Claim: "3 in 1 color for your eyes, lips, and or face! Get the color that illuminates for a healthy glow, and instantly soothes and conditions the skin for fresh and natural color all day long."
These come on a little twist thing to get to the product and a clear lid that you just pop on. If you have mini Tarte cheek tints, these are the exact same same and exact same packaging but just a little bit more simple. I wouldn't say these are cheap looking, but my lilac petal just breaks apart all weird.

As for the texture, it is kinda a little bit dry and too solid to work as a cheek tint. To solve that problem, you can just use your fingers to warm it up and dab it on your cheeks or where ever your using it on your face. Although the texture is a little bit hard to work with, the glowy-ness iit gives is really nice. I think most people would just buy spotlight as a highlight, but it is a little bit concealer ish. This is basically the only way I use these, as a cheek tint or highlighting. Also it is very hard to blend out and some of the colors are a little bit to shimmer to work with.

Conclusion:
-price: B ($1 each)
-packaging: C+
-product quality: C+
-Overall quality: C+
-Buy again? No

ELF haul #15

haha yeah yet another elf haul. I bought the whole master set too just yesterday, so it will arrive around Oct.1. Kinda excited =D The main reason I went ahead with this haul was because I wanted to try their mineral line and their new mineral brushes. I did want to buy all of the brushes, but then i had the whole collection of the studio brushes and a lot of other ones so i didn't buy all of them in the end.I bought: Mineral powder brush, waterproof eyeliner pens (plum, midnight, coffee), 2 nail polish pad, mineral booster in sheer, mineral foundation in light, mineral lipsticks (nicely nude, runway pink), mineral eyeliner in midnight, ELF refer three friends and get a shimmering facial whip in citrus.

I ordered 2 mineral eyeliners, but only one of them came. Also the waterproof eyeliner pen in midnight came all dried up which I wasn't too happy about. These pens have a 50/50 chance of either being super good or super messed up. I don't know if anyone knows this, but on the bottom of the ELF site there's a PETA button that you can click to buy a tweezers for only $2 and it goes towards PETA.

Smashbox VS ELF

Is it just me or is ELF copying Smashbox? I know that ELF isn`t selling it but as far as I can see, they look like they might be the exact same thing.

Smashbox company quote on their product
"Smashbox Sheer Focus Tinted Moisturizer is a lightweight, revolutionary sheer color formula for naturally radiant skin. A healthy complexion starts with unique citrus honey ingredients for long-lasting hydration and oil absorption, with UVA/UVB SPF 15 added to guard against future sun damage. Vitamins C and E offer protection against free radicals and anti-aging peptides improve elasticity. Skin stays flawless and protected with a smooth, matte finish all day long."

On ELF's packaging, it says "ELF tinted moisturizer SPF 20 with Aloe, cucumber and Vitamins A, C & E. It comes with 1.05oz/30g in one tube.

So yes there is differences in the ingredients but as far as i'm concerned, its really really similar. Smashboxs comes with 1.07 oz, SPF 15, while ELF comes with 1.05 oz, and SPF 20. I don't really have these products, so i can't really review them. But I'm sure I'm going to buy ELF's studio tinted moisturizer.

How-to: Perfect Semi Dramatic Day Winged Liner

Ever wondered how to get that pretty winged liner without going overboard? The way I normally line my eyes is a mixture of tight lining and the classic winged tip. Here are the steps I take in the morning, rushing through that 5-10 mins to get out of the house for school.

1. Using/finding the perfect brush

The first most important step to lining your eyes is the brush itself. You need a really thin angled brush that is at the same time, dense. My favorite brush out of my whole collection is POSH brow brush. Its nice and thick and makes the perfect detailing.I had a friend that had so much problems with her gel liner from KATE, she was about to throw it away . I asked her "What brush are you using?". She said she had the angled brush from MAC, so I thought it must be good right? So I asked her to give me the eyeliner to try, and it worked beautifully for me so I didn't understand her hatred towards that product. So as you can see, brand doesn't really matter just finding the right brush for yourself makes a whole lot of difference.

2. Get your gel/cream eyeliner ready!

A lot of people (ex. Michelle Phan from youtube) loves to teach others to "warm up your eyeliner on the back of your hand by brushing it a few times." Seriously, I don't believe in that crap at all. I have tried it a few times, but what i notice is that I use more product then I really have to. I just love it all loaded up with the product and its totally ready to go!Here I'm using my new ELF cream liner in metallic olive. Iunno why but I have the tendency to use colors other then black. Its more interesting and when it smudges, you can't see it as much. Cream liners are much easier to work with and glides on like butter.

3. PositioningAngle your head 45 degrees so that your looking at your mirror at an angle (makes your eye muscles/skin stretch a little more). Then place any finger on your lids (but not too much pressure) so that your lash line is more exposed and is easier to work with.

4. Start from the middle
I know you can't really see in the picture, but start 1/3 from your lid. Basically what i do is I tight line my whole lid, then I do a classic Hollywood glam winged tip.

Line it all the way to the corner of your eye, but leave a little bit of space so you can get the perfect tip. Sorry if my wording doesn't really make sense, so look at the picture =).

5. Prepping for the Winged tip

If your using a angled brush, turn your brush inwards so that the short bristles are facing your inner lid and the longer ones are on the corner. Looking downwards with your head tilted 45 degrees to your mirror, place the brush in the angle you want your winged tip to be. If you need to, really gently stretch or just place your finger on the corner of your eyes so it is easier to draw your tip.

6. Connect everything

Take your brush and connect the top to the bottom. You can either do the whole bottom lash or just a little bit. In my case, i don't do the bottom but it doesn't really matter.

7. Now to finish it off~~

To finish it off, load your brush once again. Take your brush and turn it so that the longer bristles are on the inside and..yeah just look at the picture XD. Lightly sweep your brush tip to make that perfect wing. You don't actually have to brush anything anymore, your just making it nice, sharp and clean. And Voila~ (sorry if my wording sucks...but i hope the pictures help).

ELF studio liners

Cream liners have always been my favorite out of all of the choices. They give a softer look when you line your eyes, you can use them on your waterline and as a color base if you want. So when ELF came out with new studio cream liner colors, I couldn't resist any longer.The very first thing I noticed when I received these was the packaging. They use to just come with a simple little box with a picture on the outside, but the color wasn't even right. I guess ELF stepped up their game eh? Everyone of them comes with a mini ELF studio angled liner bush, which is really nice I must say. This seriously isn't even worth $1.50, its a steal man! Very smart to have the product exposed so you can see the true color. ELF have repackaged must of their studio stuff so the real color is exposed. ELF claims that this liner " creates smooth lines that are defined and precises." I must say, yes this is correct. It glides on with no pressure at all with the beautiful pigmentation of the unique colors such as the metallic olive. The life of this product is 6 months, but seriously get real. Who's really going to throw something this good away beacause of the "life span". Just pray some 90% alcohol from time to time so it will have a longer life span =). Swatches coming right up! But first, lets have a close up eh? Ivory: A nice sneer pearly white color which is good for highlighting. I was hoping it was opaque enough to use on the waterline, but big disappointment there. But on well, I'll still find use of it.
Black: This black is creamy, just like my Make Up Forever aqua eyeliner. The only complaint I have is the pigmentation of the black, but you can easily fix that with two layers eh? Other then that, there's no other problem.Metallic Olive: A beautiful dark olive color with a nice slight green sheen. Compared to the black, this one has a better pigmentation and isn't sheer. Thumbs up for the unique color ^^. Gunmetal: This I think my friend Karen would like since she was looking for a sliver eyeliner last time we went shopping. Gunmetal is a, well hence the name, gunmetal with a hint of sliver metallic-esque. Very nice unique color that is also wearable.

These dry reasonable fast and when they are actually dry, you can rub and rub but it will not smudge. Isn't that awesome? For $3, that's even better then my Make Up Forever aqua liners which are $25 each and they have more product (ELF: 2.7 g, MUFE, 2 g). ELF's liners have really nice packaging, a nice sleek and pretty to look at jewel box. Unlike a lot of the lid problems that ELF causes (ex: minty lip gloss lids), these line up and makes a little click sound/feel meaning its locked. =)

So whats my verdict for these?
Conclusion:-price: A+ ($3 each! or $1.50 during studio 50% sales)
-packaging: A+
-product quality: B+
-Overall quality: A
-Buy again? YES! a million times YES!

ELF haul #14

haha yes I am insane, yet another haul. The only reason I went witht his haul was the pressed powders and concealer stick from the studio line. I tested it out in Winners, and I feel in love with them.

I know, I know, the ELF $1 face powder sucks, but i wanna do an experiment with rubbing alcohol to make it softer. It is possible you know =). I also wanted to try their $1 quads which was a pleasant surprise!! SO PIGMENTED! (btw I got nymph's dreams, which I will review in depth later on). Everything I bought, I will review later on in depth =). So far I'm loving everything I bought except for the liquid eye liner.

OMG ELF moment; new products

Just when i thought i have all the products from ELF, they keep coming out with new stuff. WHY!! WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME PLACE ANOTHER ORDER? Its going to be like my 15th order.

These palettes remind me of the Make Up forever camouflage concealer palettes, don't they? I wonder if these concealers are any different from their All over cover sticks eh?

88 warm palette

Yet another super rav on Youtube, the 88 warm palette is the sister of 88 color palette. This one I like a whole lot better because more the 80% of the colors are usable and aren't chalky or unpigmented. This is the first palette I got out of all the other ones, so this one is quite special to me.

*Tip: Don't get it from coastal scents because plus shipping is about $30. If you get it on ebay, its just $20 included shipping and its the exact same thing.*

Each color is about the size of a Canadian dime, so about 0.5 in radius which isn't big but it is big enough to last you a long long long time. The warm palette comes with a lot of browns, grays, white, purples and a whole lot more. The finishes are matte, frosty, and metallic. When you look at the swatches, you'll notice that there aer colors that you can't see at all. This is because a lot of the lighter colors are very chalky and isn't workable =S but the shimmery/metallic colors are super pigmented.

Swatches from row left to right:

Conclusion:

-price: C-

-packaging: C

-product quality: B-

-Overall quality: B-

-Buy again? maybe, if i ever run out of any of the colors