ELF Baked Eyeshadow Palettes

These are both new releases from Elf - I think they have been available for around two weeks. Both are named after two of America's finest places; New York City and California and they aim to recreate the smokiness of New York's skyscrapers through the dark, shimmering blue, grey and blacks and the bright sunshine of Cali with bright, sparkling sunset shades.

The above photos show the NYC palette and the ones below are of the California palette.

This photo shows both alongside one another so you can really see the shades to compare them. They are all blendable and buildable to allow you to create a heavy, dramatic eye look or to soften the harsh darker colours to create light, shimmering summer looks.

In terms of quality I would give these a 7/10 - there can be a little bit of fallout with the darker shades (or it could be with all of them but the darker ones are more noticeable) and the shimmer particles are visable so if you prefer matte colours definitely avoid these palettes.

I think applying these with a damp brush could help secure them on the lid - I would also definitely recommend an eyelid primer, not to get rid of creasing but because it allows the eyeshadow to cling to a base rather than hoping it will stay put!

They have a good wear time - around eight hours on the upper eyelid. I can't say much for how well they stay underneath the lower lash line purely because I don't find them suitable to wear underneath unless it is the darkest colours. The particles are a quite big so it can be a bit hit-and-miss as to whether it stays securely on such a small area.

These palettes are £10 each - an absolute bargain in my book!

ELF's 50% off treat!

Last week ELF had 50% off when you spent £50 on cosmetics from their website. I couldn't press "confirm and pay" fast enough after filling my basket with all sorts of products.
I ordered mine on Friday and it turned up this morning just in time for my morning make-up routine.

Here are 4 of the fourteen items that I chose - mineral blusher, lotion wipes, high definition powder and concealer. I'll do mini reviews for the products once I've worked through them but I can say that I really like the High Definition powder after wearing it today and with a tone corrector used underneath the concealer it worked incredibly well with my problem areas.

Did you take advantage of this offer from ELF? If not they have an offer that will give you 2 free glitter glosses with an order over £15 with the code "OCTGLOSS2"- click here to visit their website. 

Love,

My Aeroplane Must-Haves

On Wednesday I happen to be jetting off to the fabulous Las Vegas with my also fabulous boyfriend. Unfortunately the eleven hour flight isn't so fabulous so I've packed my 15 plane must-haves to prepare for all the dry skin and tired I might have to endure and I thought they might be worth sharing.

Firstly : a make-up bag that's just the right size

Then fill it with all of your favourite things...

1. Benefit Erase Paste in 2 medium, MUA Blusher in Shade 1, 2. Sexy Pulp miniature mascara, 3. Clinique Translucent Powder in 03, 4. Liz Earle Sheer Skin Tint in 01, 5. Elf SPF 15 Lip Balm in Pink, 6. Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Pink Quartz, 7. Mac 182 Brush

8. Travel magnifying mirror, 9. Figs & Rouge Organic Lip Balm, 10. Superdrug Vitamin E Intense Moisture Cream, 11. Boots Hayfever Relief eye drops, 12. Clinique All About Eyes eye cream

13. Denman Strawberry Shortcake Hairbrush, 14. little tin of hairbands and bobby pins, 15. Cath Kidston Wild Rose Handcream.

All of these might be quite obvious things to pack but I thought I'd share them anyway since they all work really well for me. I tend not to wear make-up on planes, either removing it as soon as I can get to the bathroom or just not wearing any at all but I do like to have some with me to apply before landing to feel slightly more human again. The moisturiser and hand cream are to keep my skin as hydrated as possible whilst on the flight. As much as I appreciate the air being pumped into the plane keeping me alive my skin suffers quite badly from dryness but with any luck these creams will keep me happy and hydrated, the same goes for the lip balms. Similarly, the Clinique eye cream is to help reduce any dark circles from lack of sleep and keep the skin around my eyes hydrated.The mirror is obviously so I don't have to constantly occupy the bathroom with my preening and the hairbrush, hairbands and bobby pins are to keep my hair out of the way when I'm on board.

I'd also normally take a nail file but this time I'll be putting on a new set of imPress nails to pass the time and stay hassle-free throughout my holiday. Hopefully I can do an update on them while I'm out there :) I'm a big fan of the imPress range as you can see here so let's hope it stays that way!

Anyway, there's my little ramble about my aeroplane must haves. Do you have any last minute products for me to pick up?

Love,

ELF Studio Eyebrow Lifter & Filler

In one of my previous ELF shopping sessions I picked up the eyebrow lifter and filler pencil from their Studio range. I'm a die hard lover of my HD Brows kit but sometimes I'd prefer to be able to quickly fill in any tricky bits and be done with my brows. I saw this on the ELF website and was sold by the "lift" element of the pencil in the product description - 

"Create polished and defined brows for a flawless fuller look! The “lift” pencil’s sheer light-reflecting pigments act as an arch support under the brows to enhance and outline the shape for a more youthful and awakened look. While the “fill” pencil shades in the eyebrow to blend in the natural shape, fill in any sparse areas and define the lines."

I purchased the pencil in Ivory/Medium and as you can see the "Fill" nib of the pencil does look like your average medium brown.. This is my first let down with the product, it's actually quite red based when applied to the eyebrow which left me very disappointed.

It does look different in different lights but if you look at the photo on the right you can see where the pencil's nib was slightly thicker than what I needed for the end of my eyebrow and it's left quite a reddy/brown colour on my skin.
My second qualm with this product is its texture. It's so waxy! Both the "Lift" and "Fill" ends left me rubbing off excess product, to the point where I sacked off the highlighter completely! I'm absolutely not used to this as the HD Brows palette is a compressed powder and once it's on the skin it's on there all day. This ELF pencil left me quite disappointed which was a shame as I was looking forward to using it, however I did only pay £3.75 and I wasn't expecting miracles.
Finally, this product was so difficult to apply lightly. The thick texture meant that it was like using a really soft crayola on my face, naturally this meant that however hard I tried I couldn't just fill in the bits I needed to and leave them. I was left rubbing off the parts that were too thick and any flakey bits that had crumbled off and become caught amongst my eyebrow, boo!

I am sad that I can't recommend this product as I absolutely hate doing negative reviews and I really recommend ELF as a quick, go-to brand if you're after some make-up bag essentials.
I promise I have a more positive review of another ELF product coming up so keep your eyes peeled for that, in the mean time head to their website - here - and try some of their other products

Love,

P.S.- In the above photos I'm wearing ELF's Volume Plumping Mascara from their Studio range - a product that I think is the perfect every day mascara that you can see in - this post - xo

Another ELF purchase

After my post the other day I decided to buy even more from ELF. I'm not particularly in dire need of anything but nothing was too expensive so I thought I'd treat myself!

1- Make-Up Cluch Palette £7.50 

2- Nail Polish in Lilac £2.50 

3- Studio Blush in Tickled Pink £3.75 

4 - Studio Translucent Matte Powder £3.75

(all are clickable links)

All are still available on the website and I'll be posting reviews of them once I've had a chance to test them. 

Have you tried any of these? Let me know!

Love,

ELF favourites - Studio Lip Balm & Volume Plumping Mascara

A couple of weeks ago I had an emergency splurge on ELF (there was no emergency..I just wanted to buy stuff). Amongst all the goodies online I decided on a select few pieces to add to my make-up bag. In this post I want to show you their SPF 15 Studio Lip Balm and the Volume Plumping Mascara. Both of these products are from ELF's Studio range, designed to give a more professional finish than their basic range.

"Relieves and soothes lips with a drench of moisture. SPF 15 helps to shield lips from harmful sun rays. Softens lips to prevent and temporarily protect against chapped, cracked or chafed lips."  

I bought the Studio Lip Balm in the shade "Pink. It retails for £3.50 on their website and for that price I think everybody should buy one!

It's super moisturising and has a lovely minty scent when applied. I've always been one to reach for the Vaseline but this ELF lip balm has truly taken over. It adds a little hint of colour but nothing too offensive if you wear other lip products after a slick of balm. For me this lasted for around 3-4 hours which was perfect.

I'm definitely going to buy a couple more shades of this to take away with me over summer!

"Create lush and bold lashes with our Volume Plumping Mascara. The oversized brush fully coats lashes from root to tip for an intense and dramatic effect. The Vitamin B rich formula conditions and strengthens for visibly healthier looking lashes."

This mascara was also £3.50, possibly the cheapest mascara I own! I don't fully agree with the description, for me this is more of an everyday mascara rather than making them look "lush and bold". It doesn't particularly plump my lashes but I have noticed that my lashes are fully coated, even when they haven't been curled before using the mascara. The brush isn't so big that coating the lower lashes is impossible which I have found with so many other mascaras! I can evenly coat my lower lashes in the corners without them clumping together and without marking my skin with excess mascara. One of the best things about this mascara is that it doesn't crumble off through the day. With some mascaras this means that it's a nightmare to get off, but not this one. It is easily removable with a face wipe, eye make-up remover or my favourite choice - the Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanse & Polish.

So, out of the items I ordered these were my favourites but I will be posting a review of a couple of the other bits and pieces as well.

Do you use ELF for any of your make-up needs? I need recommendations!

Love,