Review | ELF Brightening Eye Color

Hey Guys! So, today I have a review of the ELF Brightening Eye Color (eyeshadow quads).

 

                                             

Shade - Drama

 

Shade - Brownstone

 

Shade - Day 2 Night

 

 

Shade - Luxe

 

Shade - Ethereal

Price - £1.50 e

Shades - 14

Places To Buy - ELF UK, ELF USA

 

 

Packaging: The packaging on these eyeshadow quads are extremely standard as far as drugstore palettes are concerned - Plastic. They are made of plastic, the bottom half is a white plastic whereas the top lid part of the palette is clear. The fact the lid is clear is extremely handy so you don't have to memorise names of you quads or open every single one until you find the one you are looking for - the clear plastic allows you to be able to see the colours that are in there, which is perfect if you have a large collection of these shadows. The writing on the front is a silver colour, however don't expect it to stay written on there as it does rub off - I assume it is just sprayed on there. The palettes do feel very cheaply made and packaged but for £1.50/$1, what more can you expect? I don't mind the slightly cheap feel of the compact as the shadows inside are, in my opinion, fantastic. There is a tiny mirror at the bottom of the inside of the compact where the shadows are, when you buy the palette brand new, a sponge tip comes supplied in there. However, I do believe the mirror is massively useless. It is far too small to be able to see what you are doing and gets really messy from the shadows anyway. The triangular shape of the shadows can cause a few problems as you may not be able to get your brush in the single shade and may get a few other shades on the brush, something to think about when buying these - you may need to invest in a smaller/slimmer shadow brush if you don't already possess one as if not you may find yourself being stuck/using your fingers to apply the shades.

 

Texture: In my personal experience, the texture of these shadows vary from quad to quad. Day 2 Night for example, the shades are very pigmented, buttery smooth, and glide on the lid without looking chalky, crumbling or flaking off your lid. However, if we take Ethereal, this is the opposite end of the scale. These shadows are not as greatly pigmented, they are not buttery smooth, still smooth though. They can flake off my lids and appear crumbly if I don't use a very good and tacky base - I particularly like the ELF Glitter Primer for this as it is very sticky and has no colour so it doesn't change the shade of the shadows. Taking Ethereal as an exception, the texture of the majority of these quads are very smooth, pigmented and glide on the lid without any problems. The finishes range from matte, satin, shimmer and glitter - something you may want to look out for when purchasing your quad as well. The texture of the glitter shades can sometimes be quite chunky based on some previous reviews I have read, however this is not the case for all of them, something you may want to read up on. In my personal experience with these shadows, the only quad I have been ever so slightly disappointed with is the quad in Ethereal, however I still like it and this it would be great for beginners as the shades are very neutral and the fact they are not massively pigmented, means they will be much more forgiving if you mess up slightly during application.

 

When do I apply these?: With eyeshadows it honestly doesn't even matter, however there are a few tips I will give you about when to apply certain shadow types/shades. 1. If you are working with very dark/shadows that tend to have a lot of fall out - make sure you do the eyeshadow step first. This is because it will prevent you from spoiling the rest of your face makeup from fall out/smudges of dark shades, and you will find its easier to work with as you can be quite messy and clean it up after you're done, as you wont run the risk of ruining the rest of you makeup. 2.If you are working with light/neutral shades with not a lot of fallout - Your options are wide open. The timing of application doesn't really matter as you will have very slight chances of ruining your makeup that you have already applied. I personally like to apply my shadows after my base makeup (foundation, concealer, powder). This is because I can then work my blush/bronzer/lips around the way I have done my eye makeup. However, you could also do it vice versa - making your eyes match everything else.

 

I've applied too much!: Don't fret! With eyeshadows the way to tone down a look that went a little heavier than expected is simply to take a fluffy brush and keep blending the shades out. This will diffuse the colour and the more you blend - the lighter and sheerer the shades the appear. Keep blending until you are finally happy with the outcome - blending is important on any shadow look anyway but is also a great fix if you have gone too heavy on a look, not just too harsh.

 

Would I recommend these?: Yes! I would recommend these shadows. However, I don't think that all the shades will please everybody and the shade range may not be the widest for some people - the shades do range from neutral, colourful and dark though so, there should be at least one quad that caters to your needs. For £1.50/$1 I honestly don't think you can go wrong, and if you do get a dud palette, it's not a massive loss like it would be if you ended up not liking a Tom Ford quad for example.

 

Hope This Helps!

xoxoxo

Review | ELF Studio Concealer

 

Here is my review on the ELF Studio Concealer.

 

My colour is 'Ivory' - The Lightest Shade.

Price - £3.75

Shades - 4

Coverage - Medium

Places To Buy - ELF Online.

 

Packaging - The packaging on this product is very nice, professional and sleek looking. It has a very slim design meaning it is very travel friendly as it won't take any extra room up in your make-up bag. You don't get much product in the stick though, the amount of product shown is just a bit less than what I got before using it, that could be a down side but for what I use it for, I don't need a lot of product, and there might be more product in the lower part of the casing. It is a simple twist up, type package, pretty standard and what you get for most concealers like this now.

 

 

 Texture - The texture of this concealer stick is creamier than others, some more inexpensive concealer sticks can tend to be quite dry as they don't put a lot of moisturising aspects in the product, it's not the case for this one. I find that this has a medium coverage. I mainly use this for colour correcting under my eyes as the colour is quite orangey, and orange means a salmon colour and that cancels out the darkness under my eyes. The colour range isn't great at only 4 shades and they don't go very pale or very dark, you have to be a light-medium skin tone to be able to use these concealers.

 

 

When Do I Apply This? - If you were using this as a regular concealer I would suggest using this after foundation, as if you would put it on before, the concealer would move and you wouldn't get a lot of coverage out of it. However, because I use this as a corrector, I put this under foundation and use a tiny amount. This won't get rid of the coverage because of the purpose I'm using it for. But, like I said, use this after foundation if the shade matches you so you're using it as a regular concealer.

 

 

I've Applied Too Much! - Don't fret! Make sure you keep blending out, so it doesn't look cakey. Or, you can, again, use a fixing/moisturising mist so it doesn't look too heavy. Also, you can take a tissue and pat over the area where you applied too much, it will absorb the excess product, making sure it doesn't look heavy, cakey and it will look more natural on your skin.

 

Would I Recommend This? - I think I would, however, like I said, I would only recommend it to people who have light-medium skin tones, because otherwise, there won't be a shade for you. These are good quality for the money and think that, depending on your skin tone, you will find that it conceals nicely. For reference, I'm fair skin toned.

 

Hope This Helps!

xox

Review | ELF HD Powder (Studio)

 

Here is my review on the ELF HD Powder! Enjoy!

 

 

This is the original product, not the corrective yellow or shimmer one.

 

Price - £6.00

Shades - 3

Pigmentation - Clear/Transparent Formula

Places To Buy - ELF Online

 

Packaging - The packaging on this product is very nice. It has a very heavy duty black tub, which contains a sifter so not too much product is dispersed onto the puff/your brush. Some people may not like the packaging as they might think it is quite bulky, it is something that you need to have the right size storage to hold this product. I like the packaging because I think it looks very appealing and professional on your counter/in your make up storage. It is quite bulky but I really don't mind that as I have big enough storage to hold it in and big enough makeup bags if I want to take it on my travels. The fact that it comes with a puff is also very convenient, it means that if you bring this and you forget your powder brush, depending on the fact that you don't throw your powder puff away, then it won't matter because you can just use that instead.

 

Texture - The texture of this product is extremely silky, smooth and easily blendable. Because the product sys HD, it means that it is less likely to give you the white cast on your face, while still mattifying it. At first, you might think it won't blend because the product is straight up white, however when buffed in or just feathered over your face/skin, you get no white on your face, it becomes completely transparent. It also makes your skin feel extremely smooth. Because it is a translucent powder, you are not going to get any extra coverage out of it, so it does mean that it feels more light weight on your face. When I apply this, it feels like I have nothing on my face. I put this on top of a foundation that was awful for taking photos and lasted on my skin for about 2-3 hours, just to see how well it worked. AMAZING! The foundation looked sooo much better when taking pictures and recording, and it made the length of wear of my foundaton from 2-3 hours, to 5-6 hours, so I think that is a huge plus.

 

When Do I Apply This? You apply this after you have finished your face make-up. (Foundation concealer and any other cream product e.g. blush). The reason being is that it will set your make-up, prolonging the wear of it all and will also make it not as shiny. You could apply this as a last step as a finishing powder, but I just use this as a regular face powder, I think that gives me the best effect. I use the Clinique Powder Brush to apply this, I use it sparingly over the face, but concentrate it a bit more in the areas I have put concealer, so it lasts longer.

 

I've Applied Too Much! -  Don't worry! Take a finishing/moisturising spray and spray your face a couple times. This will prevent anything looking cakey if you have applied too much, and will remove some of the excess product, giving your skin a nice healthy glow at the same time. Fixing sprays are really nice and I have to use them quite a lot if I go a bit happy on the powder! They really do help and that's a solution i've been doing for ages now.

 

Would I Reccomend This Product? - Of course! I think it's great value for the money, helps my make up last all day by actually setting it, stops the terrible white cast/flash back you can get from cameras so, I think it's amazing! Again, the packaging might not be for everyone, but it certainly is for me!

 

Hope This Helps!

xox

 

Review | MUA Brow Kit

Here's my review on the MUA Brow Kit!

Price: £3.50

Shades: 1 Shade Fits All

Pigmentation - High Pigmentation, Easily Dimmed Down.

Places To Buy: Superdrug, MUA Online

 

Packaging: The packaging on this, again, is a standard black plastic, however this feels a lot sturdier. It keeps shut by a magnet at the end of the case, which is a good and bad thing, good because then it is easier to shut, more convenient and it less likely to get stuck, but a bad thing because it makes it easier to open, which means if it's in a bag with other things, then the brow powders could rub against something in your bag and break. It looks very professional, coming with a big mirror on the lid which is very helpful when travelling as you don't need to bring separate mirrors, because you have some in our make-up items. It comes with a pair of tweezers and a double ended brush, which is very helpful and travel friendly. The writing on top of the case is, again, a metallic silver spray on, which has some wear and tear on it. (Scratches through the letters)

 

Texture: The texture of these brow powders are very silky, smooth, they are highly pigmented and have a smooth colour with no patches. However, because they are so pigmented, you do need to use a light hand when applying them to your eyebrows so they look still pretty natural and not too drawn on. You don't need too much of the product to get enough colour to fill in your brows, if these shades are not right for you, because they are so smooth, silky and blendable, it allows you to mix between to shades. The 'Highlighter' shade, for me, is too dark to use as a highlighter, I use it for days when I only want a tiny bit of definition on my brows, I am fair-light skin toned for reference. The Fixing Gel is very effective, I found that it does hold my brows in place very well and is a nice consistency., my friend uses the gel everyday and ran out of it pretty quickly but you could tell she used more than necessary as her brows looked wet. That's not natural!

 

Ways To Apply: The most common way of applying brow powder is with an Angled Brush, Mine is from Smashbox, I did it between the 2 powders to get my perfect shade, starting in the middle of my brow nearer the start, I just follow my natural brow shape, maybe elongating a little bit. You can also use something like a Pointed Eyeliner Brush, Nick from Pixiwoo uses this brush, to create a more natural look as you can create little lines and flicks to look like natural hairs from your brows, making the illusion that you just have naturally full brows.

 

I've Applied Far Too Much Product!: Don't Fret! Take a regular Spoolie Brush, mine is from ELF, and just comb through your brows, this will blend out the colour, taking away some of the pigmentation. Also, taking a clean Tea Towel or Wash Cloth, put your finger inside, then wipe over your brows, this will remove quite a bit of product so you might have to re-apply a bit more powder after.

 

When Do I Apply These?: You can apply your brow powder at any time during your make-up routine, this is probably one of the most versatile things you can do. Personally, for me, I apply my brow powder after my foundation and concealer, before my concealer is blended so it can set a bit and sink in while doing my brows (it boosts the coverage). This also means the brow powder will less likely turn out orange because you can make sure no face make-up gets on your brows and if foundation does, then you can wipe it off with a Wash Cloth before hand.

 

Would I Recommend These?: Yes definitely! I think for the price and how versatile it is from the multiple shades and the fact that it has everything you need for your brows, then I think it's worth the money! I know people who have never tried this before, I used this on them and they thought it was a £10 product.

 

Hope This Helps!

xox

Review | ELF Baked Eyeshadows (Studio)

Here is my review on the ELF Baked Eyeshadows!

Left to right: Burnt Plum, Pixie

Price:£3.75

Shades:6
Pigmentation: Medium-High Pigmentation, Buildable.

Places to buy: ELF Online

 

 

Packaging: The packaging on these shadows, again, are pretty standard and kind of cheapy feeling because of the plastic. However, saying this, the black, back part of the packaging has a nice kind of rubbery, velvet feeling (very similar to the NARS packaging) which to me is a nice chance and makes it feel a lot less cheap and flimsy. I have had these since Christmas and they have not broken, or even scratched in any way. The writing on the top of the clear, plastic covering is very much like the MUA Blush Perfection in the sense that it is a spray. However, the writing on these had not rubbed/come off in anyway, it has held up very well. Now, my only complaint about the packaging is that when I received mine, the sticker on the back only consisted of a number and not a name. This is a bad thing as it means that you will either have to remember the name, or make your own sticker with the name on it and stick it on the back of the casing. 

Texture: The texture of these eyeshadows are very soft and silky, not powdery at all. They apply very evenly to the eye, I don't have a problem with drag marks/the shadow going patchy like I do with some baked shadows that I have owned in the past. They are extremely pigmented shades and you don't need to run your brush over them a lot to get a good colour pay off. The shade Burnt Plum is a nice deep, well, plum shade. The shade pixie, is a light pink colour, almost metallic, with blue and purple shimmers, this particular shade looks amazing over the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Pink Gold. They are almost creamy in the texture, I know from past experience with baked eyeshadows, that some can tend to be extremely powdery and fly all over the place and translate better on a full swatch on your finger than with a brush on to your eye. This is not the case with these, they are very nice smooth, silky, creamy, richly pigmented shadows.

 

Ways To Apply: I mainly apply these with a soft bristled brush with the lighter colour and place it all over my lid, then use a slightly stiffer brush and black the Burnt Plum shade on my outer corner and crease (I also use a smudge brush to mirror that on my bottom lash line). Really, the only ways you can apply these shadows are with a brush or with your fingers. With a brush you are going to get a ore precise look and you are going to have more control with where the product goes and where you blend it out. With your fingers you are going to get a more quick, messy look. This doesn't always look terrible, it just depends how you work with it. Don't attempt to apply the colour into the crease with your fingers, stick with all over the lid and the outer corner, so you can still maintain control and a look like you have spent more time on it rather than like you have stamped the eyeshadow colour on your eyes!

 

I've Applied Far Too Much Product!: Don't worry! I'm here to help! Basically, the most obvious way of fixing it is just keep blending out the shadow with a blending brush, until you get it to the right amount of colour that you want. Another way that I have found out, when I have applied a mountain of product (which is quite often!) is to get a Q-Tip (Cotton Bud) and just wipe it over, the bud will remove some of the product, meaning you can either build on top of that if it has taken off too much, or just leave it if it took off the perfect amount and just blend out the edges.

 

When Do I Apply These?: Personally, I apply these after foundation and when I have done my eyebrows, before I have done concealer, powder etc... mainly because, then you don't have to worry too much about fall out. It is easier to fix when it has landed on foundation rather than layers of your face makeup. The reason being is that you can just run your foundation brush under your eyes and remove any fall out, without removing a big patch of your face makeup.

 

Would I Recommend These?: Of course! I love these shadows and for the price that they are, they are an amazing deal. The quality is there, they are by no means like cheap eyeshadows, the packaging is quite sturdy and holds up well. I haven't took these on holiday yet so I don't know how well they hold up on the plane, if they will crack or anything, but if they do, I will update this post with the results and some pictures.

 

 

Hope This Helps!

xox

Review | MUA Blush Perfection Cream Blushers.

Hiya! Sorry for the stingy posts, I've been busy with school but I'm back!

 

Left to Right: Dolly, Yummy, Bittersweet.

 

 

Price: £2.00

Available at: Superdrug, MUA online website

 Pigmentation: High colour pay-off

Shades: 4

 

 

Packaging: The packaging is pretty standard. It has a regular plastic container. The writing on the front telling you the name of the product is originally a silver spray on, there is no picture of the front as the writing rubbed off so I thought it was useless to add in a picture. So far the packaging has been quite sturdy, I have had no breaking or cracking, it has held up pretty well. The casing snaps shut well, this is important as it is a cream product so it won't dry out. It is pretty cheap, standard packaging but for the price, it's what you would expect.

 

Texture: The texture is very creamy, however when it is not used for a while then you got a dry top layer, all you need to do to get it back creamy is just run over it with your finger to warm up the product again and bring it back to it's original state. It is very easily blendable, but with all cream blushers you obviously can get some ways are easier to blend it out than others and also you can apply it patchy if you don't spend as much time on it.

 

Different ways to apply: Brush - I personally prefer this way of applying any cream blush as it gives me more control of the blending and the placement of the product. I use the Elf Small Stipple Brush, I just dip it into the product, tap some off on the back of my hand so I can start with little and work on it from there and add more if needed as it is easier to add product than take away so definitely start with less than you think you need. You can also use brushes like the Sigma Kabuki Brushes to apply it, however those brushes are not the most affordable, and I am happy with my stippling brush.

Fingers - Also, there is the option of using your fingers to apply the colour. Simply by getting a little bit of product of your finger tip, starting in the back/the apple of your cheek, place the colour gently and make sure to blend until you are happy with the amount that it's blended, and the amount of colour you have on your cheeks.

 

I've applied far too much product!: Don't worry! Either take your foundation brush, don't add any more product on to it, just use whats left, and go over where you have but the blush. This will cover up some of the pigmentation, making it more subtle on your cheeks. You can also do the exact same thing but with your powder brush.

 

When do I apply it?: You can apply these before or after your powder, I find that it works better before but it does apply completely fine after. Personally, like I said, I prefer to apply it before my powder, as I feel like it gives a better finish because you are applying a cream product on top of another cream product rather than on top of a powder. However, it does apply completely fine after powder as well, those are just my personal preferences.

 

Would I recommend these?: Yes I would! I think they are amazing quality for the price, they apply great, the pigmentation is amazing, they are so creamy which makes them a dream to work with. As cream blushers go, I definitely think these are worth every single penny.

 

Hope this helps!

xox

 

Elf Elements Custom Eyes- Review.

Hey everyone! So today I have a review on the Elf Custom Eye shadow Refill Pans which are £1.50 each in the UK and $1 in the USA. I have 4  shades:

I added effects as the photo was a bit too dark, the colours aren't quite as metallic and the swatches are without primer.

 

These eye shadows are super pigmented! Although the black one (dusk) has quite a bit of fall out when you apply the shadow onto your finger/brush so be careful of that, but other wise they aren't too bad. They do have a few colourful ones like purples and greens but I went for neutral shades. They apply very beautifully, they don't have a ton of fall out but the shade in dusk has a bit more fall out than the others. They apply evenly and with a primer I can get around 10 hours worth of wear until they fade away off my eyes, but to be honest, I dont need anymore wear out of eyeshadows. They don't cause drag marks on the inner part of your eye, which is a problem I have with a few eyeshadows, so they are amazing. The packaging they come in is just a plastic container which the oan sits in, which is inside a cardboard box so they are very secure. You don't have to remember the names as they have a sticker on the back with the names on aswell as a magnet. However, the dusk eyeshadow that I have came with a clear label on a black magnet with black writing to I can't actually read the label but I just remember them all anyway. The compact to put them in is also £1.50/$1 and they also fit MAC's pan eyeshadows aswell.

 

Hope this helps!

xox



Elf Makeup Mist and Set spray - Review

Hey! So today I have a review for you on the ELF Makeup Mist and Set Spray, which is £3.75 off the studio line on the ELF website which I will link below. The studio line products used to be £3.50 but they went up, but they are still really cheap.



So, this product contains 60ml in each bottle, which is pretty small but you don't need a lot and I have had this a couple of months and I haven't used much. The purpose of this, is that when you finish your makeup application, you spray this, about 1-3 times onto your face and it's supposed to lock in your makeup and keep it from sweating off, smudging and fading away in the middle of the day. For that purpose it does it's job very well, I put it to the 24 hr  test and without this on my makeup lasted around 9 hours, which is not bad, but with this product sprayed 3 times all over my face, then it lasted a total of 12 hours on my face which is really good!

However, I did notice that it did leave a dry, red patch on my face so if I'm going to use it then i have to make sure I apply a thick moisturiser before applying my make up and after taking it off. The smell of this product is the same as the brush cleaner as in that I can't out my finger on what it is except that it is a very sharp scent but, unlike the brush cleaner, the scent doesn't linger on your face and it isn't as strong.

I would definitely recommend this product as I absolutely love it.
Hope this helps!
xoxox

ELF Liquid liner (in coffee) - review

HEY! I'm back again, with ANOTHER ELF review, now its on the Liquid Liner in coffee:

The amount you get in the bottle is 5ml for a £1.50 price tag, which is amazing! The brush supplied it awesome as you can get a really thick, medium, or really thin line. The colour pay off is a very pigmented, dark, chocolate brown which is amazing on brown/blue eyes.

I love this product as it doesn't crack on your eyes unlike some liquid liners that I have tried in the past. The formula is very smooth and silky and it just glides onto your eyelids.

Not much more to say as it is a very simple product but...
ITS AN AMAZING PRODUCT!

Hope this helps!
xoxoxo

ELF All Over Colour stick (in pink lemonade) - review

Hey, I'm back.... again! I'm here with a review on my ELF All Over Colour Stick in pink lemonade.

I love this product! In the tube you get 4g of product which, again, for £1.50 is amazing! As you can see from the swatch, with 1 swipe the colour is quite sheer but it gives off a very flattering sheen. The smell of the product is their sugar orange scent, which I can definitely say it does smell like that, it is very sweet and smells like an orange flavoured sweet.

This is very flattering on the cheeks if you use the right amount, which is, for me, 2 dots on the cheek and blended out into the temple/hair line with a stiff brush or preferably a stippling brush.

On the cheeks it adds a nice, subtle glow. I do not reccomend using this on the lips or eyes as i don't think it would look very good on the eyes (it might do with other colours, but not the pinks) and you don't want to put a product on your face that has also been touching your lips, also the texture on the lips, as i find, is a bit drying. However, on the cheeks it looks amazing, and the texture is creamy, silky and very smooth.

I would reccomend this to everyone and I will proberbly buy some other shades and see how I like them.

Hope this helps!
xoxoxo

ELF Eyelid Primer (in golden) - review

Hey! I'm back with another ELF review! As you guessed from the title it is on the ELF Eyelid Primer (in golden).

                             (sorry about the darkness, I don't have very good lighting)

So, first of all this product is £1.50 as it is from there essential line. You get 5ml in a tube which isn't bad at all!

I really love this primer. It is a great,creamy consistancy, it leaves a flattering shimmer on the eyelid - the only one that doesn't do this is the normal shade in sheer. I have been using this product for a long time now and it does wonders! I put it to the 24hr test and it lasted a good 8-10 hours which is amazing! However, I do find that whilst putting the eyeshadow on, it doesn't stick amazingly, it is only after you have applied your eyeshadow and it has been on for about 5 minutes that it really sticks onto the product and doesn't budge.

For me, it seems to dry after the eyeshadow is on top of it, and it seems to grab the eyeshadow with it. This is an amazing primer! Proberbly not the best out there, but for £1.50 and it is this good, I really reccomend it and will be stocking up on this product myself!

However, i do find that because it is in a tube with a sponge applicator, alot of the product is left on the sides and you cant really get it out unless you swirl the sponge round the sides of the tube.

I hope you found this useful and I hope you will purchase this in the future!!
xoxox

ELF Daily Brush Cleaner - review.

Hey beauts! I purchased the ELF Daily Brush Cleaner quite a while back. But, I have tried it enough to give you a review!

So, firstly the amount you get is really generous as it is a 60ml bottle. At £3.75 it is not a bad deal. Eventhough you get a lot, you do need to spray the product quite a few times until you get enough for an acceptable clean. The scent of the product itself is really strong and it does stay on the bristles of the brush. So, if you are not one for strong scents then I would not reccomend this product as it will linger on the brush even after you have left it to dry. 

For me, the best way to use it is - lay your brush down on a cotton pad, then spray about 5 pumps onto the brush and go back and forth into cleaner.

It is not a bad product, however I have made a makeup remover (which I will do a blog post on how I made it) and I have to say, it does clean it better and it doesn't have a strong scent. Although, for £3.70 you really cant go wrong with it. So I would recommend it to you but I do have to say that only use it on brushes that don't need a lot of cleaning.

Hope this helped!
xoxo