YSL volutpe tint-in-oil review

 When I was browsing the Sephora website during the Christmas time to see what I want to buy with the $20 off $50, I was slightly stuck since I bought everything I possibility wanted in the VIB 20% off sale.  So when I saw YSL coming out with a new product called the Tint-in-oil, I had to try it out!  That and it was exclusively being sold to VIB/VIB rouge, so I kind of felt a bit special hehe.

The product concept doesn't really excite me since there are such products in the Korean and asian market, but at least this is something I can play with and touch physically in stores rather then playing the guessing game when I buy my Korean cosmetics online.

Let's cut this short and get started!

ELF Studio Long-Lasting Lustrous Eyeshadow review and swatch

 Like always, these awesome eyeshadow was on the ELF cosmetics instagram sneak peek so when these came out back in November, I jumped on the horse and bought them on Cyber Monday.  The description of these eyeshadows just intrigued me since its suppose to be a whipped gel eyeshadows which i don't even think there is anything like it on the market right now.

ELF's description on this product: "Soft and fluffy, these vibrant, shimmering Long Lasting Lustrous Eyeshadow colors can be used as eyeshadow or a bold liner. The whipped gel texture is easy to blend and lightweight for lasting comfort and wear. Perfect for highlighting the brow bone and adding extra shimmer for a truly glam look."

Product Packaging: Let me just start off by saying that the cardboard packaging for this was so annoying! The eyeshadow was stuck in there! You have to actually rip the packaging to get it out but I had to try so hard to not rip it for picture purposes LOL.  

Another thing that is super annoying is that the names for the eyeshadow was the names are not on them.  You either have to write it with a sharpie yourself on the bottom or you would manually have to rip the little sliver sticker off the back of the box.  I really hope that they don't do that for all of them because that just makes me question if they were thinking when they made this product.

 These have super simple packaging with a black lid on top with "ELF long lasting lustrous eyeshadow" printed on them and a clear plastic bottom. In pictures before I got it, I thought the bottom would be glass like the Maybelline color tattoos.

I stuck that sticker on myself by the way.

Texture:

Unlike anything I've ever tried before, but these do remind me of their studio cream blushes which has the same "bouncy" texture. These are "bouncy" but they are more wet then the cream blush which turns slightly powder on the skin.  I wouldn't slide my finger around since they are really squishy and I would just create a huge crator so i would actually just dab my finger over it. On the skin, it still has a slight wetness to it but it does set well.  The wetness does also help attract powders to show their true color, exactly what a eyeshadow base is suppose to do.

Color Pigmentation/ Payoff:
Out of the 7 shades, i only bought three of them since most of them are very boring shades to me and the three shades I bought, I thought I could get the most use of. The seven shades they sell are Toast (yellow golden bronze color), Soiree (light pinky purple), Gala (browny raspberry purple shade), Festivity (dark purple amethyst), confetti (white with silver shimmer), celebration (sliver), and party (dark silvery blue color).

As you can tell from my description, gala, soiree and festivity all are different shades of purple and on the skin (from swatch pictures  I've seen, they all look very similar so that saved me some money there knowing that I didn't have to buy all of them.

All of the shades are shimmery which stopped me from getting them right when they first came out but when it came time to the cyber Monday sale, I went crazy and just picked some up. Now I'm not the type to like crazy shimmer on my eyes but these makes the skin look like there are Swarovski crystals on my eyes. They are stunningly gorgeous! It has this metallic element with tons of shimmers that does actually adhere to the skin nicely.

The colors are very buildable and it will be true to color after about three layers.  The good thing about these is that you can actually wear these by themselves and it wouldn't crease or you could use these as a color base which is quite effective as well.

Smell:

Good news for those that don't like frangances in their products.  These do not have any smell :).

Lasting power:

From the name, you could kind of tell but these do last quite a long time. I would put these on in the morning and when I go to take my make up off late at night, it is still there.  It fades a slight  bit but nothing dramatic.

Price:

 These go for $3 each in their studio line but you can easily get these for $1.50 a piece if you use a studio 50% off code which you just have to google for one. 

Overall I really do love these even though I am not a big sparkle girl but wow I'm in love with the shades.  I  wouldn't be going out to get all of the shades since I have too much stuff already  as it is but i just wanted to try something new. 

ELF essential jumbo eyeshadow sticks review and swatches

 These came out not too long, about one and a half month ago.  I was completely intrigued by these because they really reminded me of the NYX jumbo eyeshadow penicls.  I think everyone's first impression would be that these look like a dupe for the NYX ones. They do the same job but I think these are actually better! They come in nine different shades and I have all of them to do a review for you guys :D.

 ELF's description of the jumbo eyeshadow sticks:

"This creamy and pigment rich Jumbo Eyeshadow Stick is perfect for creating a natural or smoky eyeshadow look. Infused with nourishing Vitamin E to condition the delicate eye area. The twist up component and smooth glide formula is easy to use for on-the-go beauty. All colors, except Like A Boss, have a shimmer finish."

 Product Packaging:

These eyeshadow sticks first came in the simple flimsy cardboard and plastic, just like any of the other elf products from their essentials line.  Each stick has 0.11 oz/3 g of product which isn't a bad amount. They come in a crayon pencil tube with a twisty bottom which has a glossy finish to them. The tube itself is a matte white with "E.L.F Jumbo eyeshadow stick" printed in sliver on them. The bottoms correspond to the color of the product and has a sticker on the bottom with yet again ant printing.  I really wish that they would have a sticker with the font thats not -0.004. The lid is clear so you can see the color of stick, which is kinda of obvious but I felt the need to type it anyways.

Color Pigmentation/ Payoff:

Out of all nine of these shades, two of these aren't the best and really dissapointed me.  The two lightest shades were actually the biggest dissapointment.  When I was ordering these on the website, I thought that French lace and Little Miss thing would be matte and creamy but most of these are frosty finish. I'll divide these into categories by finish so you guys will get an idea of which you might want to purchase.

Frosty:French lace, Little miss thing, Rock out, Turkish Coffee, Bail Bound

Semi frosty/ a little more matte: Check me out, Feeling lucky
Matte: Like a boss, Midnight Rendez Vous

French lace: Light champange color with pinky peach shimmers
Little Miss thing: Light golden bronze color with gold shimmers
Rock out: Taupey brown color with bronze shimmer
Turkish coffee: Chocolate brown color with bronze brown shimmers
Feeling Lucky: Dark chocolate raspberry color (Just like the Raspberry truffle studio single eyeshadow color) with slight dark purple shimmers
Check me out: Dark purple amethyst color with slight purple shimmers
Bail Bound: Forest green with light green shimmers
Like a boss: Primary matte blue
Midnight rendezvous: Traditional matte black

Even though French lace isn't a matte skintone color that I hopped for, it actally is very close and similar to my make up forever waterproof eyeliner in Champagne color.  It is a really light true champagne color and on my MAC NC25 skintone shade, this looks super natural.  On the corners of my eyes, it just looks like I'm super naturally glowy  and healthy.  I could actually use this on my face and cupids bow too.As for the other colors, I would just use it as a base for my eyeshadows. 

Texture/ Lasting Power:
They are really pigmented and not too too creamy to the point where it would just slide off my eyes. This has just the perfect consistency.  You could wear these on its own but I wouldn't advise it since it will crease on the eyelids.  Use a primer underneath these for a longer lasting eye look but you woudln't actually have to. I would be happy to report that this product is worth buying and spending your time on.  These are even better then the studio cream eyeshadow that I love so much from them! I'm impressed.


Smell:
These have a really plasticy crayon smell.  If you know what wax crayon smells like, this would have the exact smell.  It isn't too strong where it is really annoying to use or you could still smell it once you have used it on your skin.

Price:
I don't know why, but elf has been raising their price from their essential line which I really hope they don't change everything from $1 to $2. But all of these jumbo eyeshadows are $2 each each is still cheap but it was more fun when things were only one buck.

Overall:
This is a really good product and It would be something that I would actually repurchase but I don't think that I would be able to finish one ever.  These do remind me of my Make up forever base but they just don't have the awesome bright colors Make up forever has.  The texture is almost the same but the ELF ones are a little more waxy but still is easy to blend.

Studio baked eyeshadow palette in California review and swatches

I still remember when Elf first posted their sneak picture on instagram, i completely freaked out! I absolutely loved their baked eyeshadows they came out with earlier and if i could get it in a palette and a smaller size, i'm up for it.  The price for these was a little high considering all of their other products are less then $6 usually.  So $10 made me a little bit hesitant. :) Please enjoy my review on these.  I have been using these for a while now.

Elf's description of the studio baked eyeshadow palette: "Each Baked Palette features 10 gorgeous baked eyeshadows so you can achieve a flawless look whenever, wherever. The silky and bendable formula of our Baked Eyeshadow provides smooth and even application with each sweep of color. Baked in an oven, these eyeshadows offer rich pigmentation for a beautiful effect. Infused with active key ingredients Jojoba, Rose, Sunflower, Apricot and Grape to nourish and hydrate the skin. The long-lasting and shimmering color can be worn wet for a vibrant effect or dry for sheer pigmentation, offering a variety of gorgeous eye looks!"

Product packaging:

This palette comes in a sleek black little case. I do not really like how thick the palette is though (14cm length X 6cm width X 2 cm thick). Each color comes in a pressed dome shape which is quite typical for baked products. I do understand that the shadows are domed but thickness of the palette is still not justified for its thickness. I did actually take apart the palette and the whole bottom of the palette is empty. Fail! The palette has a nice snap which isn’t too hard to open but it closes perfectly so it would be safe to leave this palette in your purse.

Color pigmentation/ payoff:

These palettes currently come in two versions: California which is all neutral palettes and NYC which is a smoky palette. I choose to only get the California since I thought that I would get the most use out of but I know you guys don’t care about that LOL. Okay I’ll try to get to the point how. The color pigmentation of these is only average but with a primer it is a little better. Most of these colors have a satin finish with a hint of shimmers, few have shimmery finish and only two has more of a matte finish. I wouldn’t bring this palette with me to a trip hoping that this would be the only palette since a lot of these shades are only shimmer/ satin and has no matte color which is one of the downsides to it.

Top row (from left to right)

1) Light beige skin tone highlight color with sliver shimmers; satin finish with slight shimmers

2) Warm toned bronze shade with golden shimmers; satin finish

3) Beige peach color with golden shimmer; satin finish

4) Rose gold color with peach shimmer; satin finish

5) Light coffee color with sliver shimmer; shimmery finish

Bottom row (from left to right)

1) Sliver shade; frosty finish

2) Dark brown shade with small sliver shimmers; matte with slight shimmers

3) Golden bronze color with golden shimmers; frost/ satin finish

4) Burgundy plum shade (very comparable to raspberry truffle from their studio single eye shadows); stain finish

5) Amethyst color with purple sheen; satin finish

Dupe to Sephora moon shadow in The nude:

Once these came out, everyone couldn’t stop comparing these. I had to see these for myself so I went to the store. The palette was basically 95% the same!! The palette case for the Sephora is fancier but the color selections of these are so similar, I’d say go get the elf one. Colors are almost all the same. Texture and packaging. Wow…elf you are awesome and stepping up your game :).

Texture:

Baked eye shadows usually are somewhat dry to the touch since they are baked and doesn’t have that silky texture like MAC eye shadows. But boy was I surprised. These were actually quite silky and doesn’t have too much fall out. Yes you will have a little bit of powderyness but I mean what eye shadow doesn’t right? Fallout I mean once you dip your brush into the domes and not when you use them on your eyes.

Smell:

I’m happy to report that this has no smell :). Sometimes with some products from elf, they have a really bad plastic smell to them but these have absolutely no smell!

Lasting power:

These doesn’t have the best lasting power on bare skin so I would suggest you use a good primer before you step out the door. Those would stay about 3-4 hours on bare skin but if you use primer, they would stay on for about 5-7 hours. Using these wet is an option for these too but not my favorite method.

Price:

These are $10 which I find it a little bit expensive for ELF since everything else is $3 and $6 and a whole palette is $15 for 144, so $10 to me for a small ten color baked eye shadow palette seems a lot LOL. I did get this for $5 since I used a 50% off studio line. There is going to be a cyber-Monday 50% off everything sale so watch out for that.

Hope you enjoyed my review on this palette. If you have anymore questions, don’t hesitant to comment down below, or if you want to see a review on a certain product. Would you get this palette for yourself? Which colors do you usually prefer? Neutral or smokey?

ELF studio HD blush review and swatches

I just couldn't wait for my package to come in from the mail since i was too excited to get my HD blushes from elf :D.  I mean who can! Their products are awesome and the price is awesome...what more can I say! And plus people are comparing them to Makeup forever HD blushes which run for $30 per bottle, i think these are a steal then!

Elf's description of the HD blushes:

"Rich and creamy HD Blush naturally sculpts and highlights the cheekbones for a soft-focus effect that is great for everyday use. The Vitamin E enriched formula conditions and hydrates the skin for a healthy, radiant glow. Velvety soft, lightweight and highly pigmented color creates a long-lasting result for all day wear. "

Product packaging:

 These all come in a skinny, sleek, thin cardboard box with the corresponding shade highlighting the name of the product. Simple, straightforward, I like it.

The back of the box...read away.

 These come with 0.34 fl. oz. (10 mL)...sorry I know i'm stating the obvious :/.

 To show you guys how small these are,  I have a ruler :D.  These are 7.3 cm in height.

 Compared to a Mac fix+, its like a tiny mini me.  Sho cute!

These HD blushes come in a really handy pump, but even though you can control the pump easily, it still despenses a little too much product since they are crazy pigmented as you will see down below. I believe how the pump works is by the pressure from pressing the top.  This is convient since a straw sticking down the tube doesn't always get all the product, so this is a good thing that they use pressure instead of relaying on stupid straws.

Color Pigmentation/ Payoff:

Just like what I have heard from all of the reviews I have read so far, everyone says that their first impression of the bottle is that they are small, but when they go to apply it on their skin, they understand why it is such a small bottle.  This is because you really need a tip of a tweezers amount to do both your cheeks.  Pumping it a little bit and getting a needle tip amount might be already too much! These are crazy crazy pigmented so you really have to be careful.

Something I would like to note is that these do somewhat stain. When I went to swatch these on my hand and wipe it off, it left a giant stain and my hand now looks like either I'm having a allergic reaction or I'm in an abusive relationship HAHA. Even with MAC make up remover (the pink one which takes off eyeliner easy) can't get rid of the color. So I'm left with this red stain on my own left arm. So word of advice, make sure you either use a primer and/or a foundation before you use these because they WILL STAIN!

A problem that I had with a few of these blushes was that when i went to pump it out, oil came squirting out.  I think either that the blush is splitting, blush has been sitting too long in the factory, or it just wasn't mixed properly to begin with.  Even after shaking it vigorously, it didn't really help.

The studio HD blush collection comes in 5 shades as for now and I did buy all five, its only $3 each so what not! The five shades are headliner, encore, superstar, diva and showstopper.

 

Most of these shades are really out there and I'm a pale asian girl.  I got these already so I'm going to have to make it work somehow.  I thought even if you did get these and you don't like it on your cheeks, you could use these as a lip color too! So Here are swatches on my skin and my lips :).  Enjoy!

Headliner- light pale pink color with fine light pink shimmer (shimmers don't really show unless you take a magnifying glass to look at your cheeks; finish is quite matte). This color is perrrfect for those pale girls out there since it is the most wearable and more safe color since its a pale pink color.

On the lips, this is a gorgeous pale pinky nude color and it works for my NC 20-25 skin! So pretty!

Superstar-  wearable pinky coral color (matte finish with minimal fine shimmers...little to none).  This color is the second color I'd reccomend for pale girls too but this would be quite strong on the cheeks if you don't use this one right.  Be careful!

Even though in the picture it doesn't seem so orangy undertone, in real life this does have that mandarine orange tone.  This color on the lips just screams summer to me :), and it is really wearable and pretty!

Encore- This color is crazy, lets just start off with that.  I don't even know how I'm going to be able to pull this one off, even with a duo fiber brush! That swatch on the right is just a tiny bit and if i have that color on my cheeks, I'd look like a sunburnt santa claus (that is if santa even goes anywhere else other then North Pole LOL. Maybe for vacation he went to haiwaii :), just to treat himself.) This is a relaly cool red tone fuschia color and its completely matte finish.

I've always wanted a crazy fushia lip color and now i have it :D.  So happy since i wouldn't get myself a crazy lipstick because I'm not really a lipstick person, but this i can do.

Diva- Gorgeous hot pink color with a warm red undertone.  This can easily make you look like you got a sunburn if you aren't careful with these.  Completely matte finish like most of these.

Stunning barbie pink color :). Do I look like barbie :D.

Showstopper-

If you look really carefully, this blush does have really really fine purple and blue shimmers but you really can't tell on the skin after being applied.  This color is straight up wine, purple grapes color.  Stunning but I think this would work well with really dark chocolate girls out there.  I myself don't think I can pull this off even with the slightest pin tip sized amount but this would be super cool for photos as a contour!

 This is a perfect color for the fall time since its so vampy on the lips! Gorgeous but I think i still need to build up my confidence to rock a bold lip!

All the swatches side by side.

Texture:


These are really easy to blend but they are really pigmented so I don't recommend you use your fingers to blend these out on the cheeks. These would be best used with a duo fiber brush. Elf's small stipple brush or their regular stipple brush is perfect for the job but any stipple brush will do. Just make sure; PLEASE make sure you have this over your foundation or primer because THESE DO STAIN! I can’t stress that enough~~ The texture of these are somewhat watery but creamy at the same time.

Smell:
These do not have any smell to it which is a good thing: D.

Lasting power:
These have such good lasting power that it stains your cheeks LOL. I'd say that these would last for about 5-7 hours but it really depends on what are you doing during the day, skin type and if you are using primer/ foundation with these.

Price:
These only go for $3 each which is crazy to me since the make up forever (which everyone is saying these are dupes of) goes for $30 each. For the quality, packaging, color pigmentation, these can easily go for way more than $3 so I think these are a steal. Instead of just thinking of these only as a cheek color, I really think these are basically face paint. Super pigmented and you can mix it into your lip glosses and use it as a lip color. I don't know yet about eye shadows yet but I will have to experiment.

Are you interested in these? Have you tried them?

Hope this review is helpful to you. Arm is so irritated from swatching and rubbing LOL but I love blogging too much.