ELF Products.

I was recently contacted by ELF to write about a few of their products. A week or so ago and also a few months back, I bought some ELF products but haven't had a chance to review them so this was the perfect opportunity.
I'm a massive fan of ELF products, their prices are very reasonable for the quality of the product and I often buy quite a few things from their online shop to make the postage worth it (always kidding myself into buying more).

ELF Eyelid Primer 
I've been experimenting with eyeshadows and new looks recently, so I'm really glad I bought this primer. I'm sure you've all heard how brilliant it is, it's been hailed as a dupe for Urban Decays Primer Potion, but I actually use my ELF primer far more than I ever used my UDPP. This product is £1.50, which is such a good price for the quality of the primer. I don't feel guilty when I use it because at that price I can always afford to buy another one.
Even when I don't plan on wearing eyeshadow, I like to sweep some of this primer on to my eyelids, as it makes them a lovely natural colour.
Of course, as with all eye products, it will eventually crease. That is inevitable. But I would say you get about 4-8hours of wear before any signs of creasing show.
I'd definitely recommend this product to anyone, if you're a fan of UD Primer Potion, then you really need to check out this!

ELF Studio Blush in Candid Coral
Before I bought this blush, I'd been searching for a coral blush for some time and couldn't find one that had more pink undertones than orange as I am reasonably pale. I love buying blushes and this is definitely one I've been reaching for a lot lately. It has a slight gold shimmer to it, which I love! I usually wear a highlighter but if I use a shimmery blush then I don't feel I need to.
This is a more subtle colour than other blushes I use, so it's better suited for daytime wear (although I sometimes layer it for a more noticeable glow at night).
I really can't fault this colour.

ELF Small Angled Brush

This has to be my favourite item purchased from ELF ever. I use this pencil to fill in my eyebrows, I have a thing about having nice arched eyebrows and this has really helped the way I shape them. Before this brush, I was using a brow pencil, which worked well but I can't imagine using anything else but this brush now. 

It's the perfect size for filling in brows (or maybe applying eyeliner or lipstick) and the slanted edge makes it easier to give my eyebrows a perfect straight edge and arch. I can imagine this would also be excellent for doing eyeliner, especially the flicks at the outer corner and I'm contemplating buying another one of these for that purpose. 

I highly recommend this brush for filling in eyebrows, you can see from mine that they're a nice shape and this takes literally minutes to do with a good coloured eyeshadow. 

ELF Mineral Lipstick in Runway Pink

This quality of this lipstick is amazing, it's even more amazing when you consider the price (£3.50/$5.00). This is a highly pigmented matte pink colour with a slight sheen, and it suits me perfectly. I wear this night and day and it goes with anything, so natural and easy to wear. It's actually very moisturising too, I sometimes find it hard to wear lipstick because it dries out my lips, but I've never had any issues with this. 

I also really like the packaging on this too, it's very sturdy and simple which makes it easy to find in my bag since I have the worst habit of throwing about 10 lipsticks and glosses in my handbag. 

L-R: Blush in Candid Coral, Mineral Lipstick in Runway Pink, Eyelid Primer

These are my favourite ELF products from the two hauls I've bought, and I'm definitely going to buy more. I love the quality of their products, especially the Mineral and Studio ranges and the price is amazing. Being able to buy good, honest products for less than £5 is incredible. I'm really impressed with their brushes, and I think they're definitely worth a purchase. 

I'm going to purchase another darker blush and more lipsticks, and I've also heard good things about the ELF eyelash curlers. 

It's annoying that ELF products aren't sold in stores in the UK, but I think the shipping costs are reasonable, and if you spend over £30 then shipping is free. 

Also, on the US site, there is shipping for $2 if you spend over $15. Which is definitely worth it if you live in the US. 

You can also check out this blog for an awesome review on the ELF Studio Endless Eyes Pro Eyeshadow Palette. 

All links here are to the US site (which has customer reviews of the products underneath), but you can visit the UK site here. 

Makeup Bag.

First of all, I'm so sorry about the quality of the pictures. It's 9pm and quite dark so they're not great (I also had to use the flash and it highlighted how dirty my makeup is... lovely) but this is just an overview of my daily make up (similar to the Skincare post I did).
Obviously I have literally tons of makeup stored away but this is what I leave out and use daily, and also take with me a lot of time if I'm going out or whatever.

My makeup bag used to be gorgeous, I bought this from Superdrug around 4 years ago and I can't bear to throw it away (even though its dirty, faded, the zip is broken and my makeup doesnt actually all fit in it). Its purple and has a black damask pattern all over it (now tragically faded, RIP).

Okay so I think it's important to prime my skin first, since my skin is yuck and bumpy and not lovely like everyone elses. I don't always use all these products, but these are the ones I use more than others. They are: 

Benefit High Beam: I use this as a highlighter on my brow bone and cheek bones.

ELF All Over Cover Stick: I use this to cover any blemishes pre-foundation.
Smashbox Photo Finish Primer: A cult product, excellent primer to smooth out skin.
MAC Strobe Cream: Lovely used a primer, gives a subtle sheen and brightens dull skin.
MAC Matte Gel: Absorbs any oils, giving a matte appearance. I sometimes use this instead of the other primers.
YSL Touche Eclat: Another cult product which I use to hide my eye-bags.
Smashbox Under Eye Brightener: I sometimes use this alone or under Touche Eclat.
ELF Eyelid Primer: Excellent eyelid primer, makes sure my eyeliner & mascara doesn't leave black marks on my eyelids & holds on eyeshadow when I wear it. 

Terrible picture. My two favourite foundations and my absolute favourite concealer.
MAC Pro Longwear foundation NW20: amazing, amazing, amazing!

MAC Studio Fix Fluid foundation NW20: I didn't like this at first and I prefer my Pro Longwear but sometimes I mix them together, and have only recently started wearing this alone for a more dewy look.
L'Oreal Touche Magique Concealer: The best concealer money can buy, such a bargain and better than my MAC Prolong wear concealer!

 

I have a heap of powders, blushes and highlighters as you can see. These are my main ones, and I swap them around each day.

Sleek One Finishing Powder: A recent purchase, but really nice and fine.
MAC Mineralize Blush in Dainty: Lovely rosy gold blush with a subtle glow. Perfect!

Smashbox Highlighter Fusion Soft Lights in Baked Stardust: Awesome highlighter.

MAC Select Sheer Loose Powder NW25: Slightly darker than my foundation, so I don't use this too much. Good for blending in & use it most at night.

MAC Prep + Prime Transparent Powder: Sets makeup, doesn't look cakey.
Bourjois Blush in Rose D'or: A new purchase, but definitely a favourite. Similar to the MAC Dainty blush. Very pink with a shimmer.

Bourjois Illuminating Touch: A great highlighter for cheekbones.

Topshop Cream Blush in Pinch: Another new purchase but so good!

I actually don't wear eyeshadow all that much... I'm not sure why! I use a few different mascaras at once though, but this one is my favourite at the moment. 

Sleek Storm Palette: I've actually never used this, it's too pretty! I need to experiment, I love the colours.

Mac Pro Longwear Mascara: I didn't like this at first but I use it every day now.

Rimmel Professional Liquid Liner: You can't beat this, and it lasts for so long!

Benefit Eye Bright: A great highlighter for eyes, I use it in the corners of my eyes to make them look wider and brighter.

Benefit Brow Zings in Medium: I love Brow Zings, I use it with a small angled brush (see below).

Two of my favourite lipsticks.
MAC Cremesheen in Speed Dial: Lovely pink colour, but not over the top.
Revlon Lipstick in Pink in the Afternoon: More of a daytime colour.
17 Lipliner in Rose Blush: This goes perfectly with the Revlon lipstick. 

My main brushes which are all different brands.
Models Own Eye Shading Brush: Just in case I decide to wear eye shadow.
MAC 190 Foundation Brush: I think everyone has this. Excellent foundation brush (although I don't always use it and I'm really lazy and never wash it!)

ELF Small Angled Brush: Perfect for eyebrows.
ELF Angled Blush Brush: I'm actually a bit sick of this, I don't like it as much as I used to so looking for a new one to replace this.
H&M Powder brush: I love H&M brushes, I used to have one for blush too. Lovely and soft, they stay like this for years and they're only a few pounds. 

So there you have it. An insight into my makeup bag, and all my daily products. If this post has taught me anything, it's that I need to keep my products cleaner and wash my brushes more regularly!

Sleek & ELF Makeup!

Short post. Today I bought some nice things from ELF (eyes, lips, face) and Sleek Makeup. I've tried ELF before, but I don't think I've ever really bought anything from Sleek actually. 

From Sleek I bought the Storm Divine eyeshadow palette and also the One Finishing Powder because I've heard good things about it. I've not actually tried them yet (apart from the bottom second-right eyeshadow to fill in my eyebrows) but I will post about them when I've given them a few tests. 

From ELF I bought a small angled brush for my eyebrows, some eyebrow stencils (yes I love nice eyebrows), Mineral lipstick in Runaway Pink (such a lovely colour!), Studio Blush in Candid Coral and the Blush/Contour kit. I'm really into buying blushes at the moment, I think I want the whole of Bourjois Blush Pots and to try the Topshop creamy blushes. 

In other news, I tried to work my new tripod today but I failed miserably. It's 4pm and getting quite dark though so that might have something to do with it. You can have a photobooth picture instead. 

Also, tomorrow I have a Benefit Audition eek! I'm so nervous, especially as I'm ill!! I applied for a job with Benefit, and got through the phone interview. So tomorrow I have to go to the counter in Debenhams and try out for the job, competing with a group of girls for the job. Has anyone ever done this before? I have no experience so I don't feel too confident but it's worth a try! 

ELF, MAC + Models Own Haul

Here's a picture showing how messy I am. Recently I bought a few more things to add to this, including some things from ELF (Eyes Lips Face), a brand I'd heard of a few times but never tried. I was really surprised at their prices! Most of the products listed are £1.50, so I bought a few things. 

From ELF I bought a concealer brush, an eyeliner brush and an angled bamboo blush brush. I also bought eyelid primer and some all over colour stick, one is a red/pink colour and the other is concealer. So far I've only tried the concealer brush and the angled blush brush, both of which are lovely!

I got some more MAC stuff, the Studio Fix Fluid and also the Prep+Prime Transparent Finishing Powder. I've not tried these properly yet but did do a swatch on my hand and they feel and look amazing. Really excited about giving them a try. I finally bought the Models Own + Wah Nail Pen and also some polish in Coral Reef. I've not tried either of these, mainly because I already have Barry M polish on and also because I'm a bit scared of using the nail pen!

Any tips you could give me when it comes to using it? I'm not a very patient person and I have really shaky hands!

So yes, I've done a bit of shopping to make me feel better that xmas is over. I'm back at my parents house in Aberdeenshire (the middle of nowhere) and trying to decide where to go from here. I've just moved back from Leeds where my boyfriend lives, after not enjoying being so far away from family etc. Now I need to decide what to do with my life! :(

Also, If you're commenting on my posts (yay!) please leave your blog address so I can visit! Also, if you can recommend any good blogs to follow, that would be lovely. Thanks! 

MY CHRISTMAS NAIL POLISH

I usually try to not just do posts on pictures of nail polish bottles, I think they can be boring sometimes, but I thought I would share what I got for Christmas in the way of nail polish. Plus I don't think I will have any swatch or NOTD pictures today for you all. At lunch I am going to two places to pick up some nail polish from Freecycle, so I won't be able to paint my nails then either. Wish me luck on getting some goods from freecycle :)


Glitz & Glisten, Such a Go-Glitter, Pitch-Black Glimmer



Mistletoe Kisses, Mrs. Claus, Party Hearty, Phat Santa, Jolly Holly



Happy Birthday, My Favorite Martian, Moonstruck, Belle of the Ball, Pop The Cork Purple



Twinkle, Golden Goddess, Cranberry

ELF - JEWEL TONE COLLECTION

I usually pass on ELF polishes since they seem to only have sheer, light or french manicure type colors. I came across this collection of Jewel toned ELF polishes on a recent trip to Big Lots. I decided to give them a try. I was just so-so after using these, nothing bad but nothing great either.


ROYAL PURPLE
Could not capture the real color of this one. The color is a mix of the flash and non flash pictures I took.






PEARL
Sooo not my kind of color. I do not like this type of finish for polish in any color - but I didn't hate it on as much as I thought it would. However, I know I will never wear this polish again :)






DARK NAVY
This one was really pretty, even as dark as it was, you could still see that it was a dark blue.






Just for fun, I added a coat of Maybelline Planet Pluto I scored from a recent Dollar Tree haul.