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).