Review: e.l.f Studio Matte Lip Colour in Rich Red

I know that I'm absolutely bombarding you with reviews at the minute but I have so much mounting up in my "Can't use until photographed" box! I hope I'm not driving you all insane. Today I have another item from my elf haul which I cannot believe was a whole month ago! Time is just flying by. I kind of picked this up on a whim because although I love red lipsticks, it's not a colour I wear very often. I really liked the way that this one was presented and I don't have many matte lip colours so this is something a bit new to me.

It's shaped like a lip pencil which makes for really precise application. I love how neat and sleek the packaging is, it's going to look right at home amongst all my pencils! It has a base in a colour matching the product (which is always a plus) and twists up from top section.

Isn't it gorgeous?! It looks almost neon bright here but I'd describe it as a true post box red. It does dry almost completely matte, I took the photo towards the end of the day and the light was quite blue. It's picking up a sheen for some reason. It was a dream to apply, really creamy and smooth and it doesn't settle into my lines at all (although I have read some reviews where people found that it did, so bear that in mind.) The shape of it made it so easy to get a really precise line. I applied this without any kind of lip balm underneath and I didn't find it drying in the slightest. It lasts absolutely ages and once dry I found it doesn't transfer onto glasses which is fantastic! The only niggle I have is that the product itself was a little "wiggly" in the packaging, it wasn't flush to the sides so I wouldn't dare extend it any more than I absolutely had to. I'm certain it would snap off! For £3.75 this is a must have product for me. I only wish they had a better selection of shades, all of the others are quite pale and I'd be terrified of the concealer lips effect, especially with a matte formula. This would be amazing if it were available in some berry and plum shades. Or even some really exciting brights for Summer! I'd be snapping them up in a second.

Final Verdict: if you're a lover of classic red lips, you'll love this. Definitely recommend.

What do you think to this look? Have you tried any of the other shades?

Lauren

EOTD: e.l.f 100 Palette, Muted Olive #D1

I know this should really be a FOTD but I'm calling in ugly. I just could not get a photo of myself that I was satisfied with so I'm afraid it's just the eye you're getting!
So as most of you know I recently spent a long time swatching all the shades in my e.l.f eyeshadow palette to check out the pigmentation and quality (surprisingly good!) I've since had a request from the lovely Naomi to try and work with the palette to create a few day looks. I decided to make myself a mini challenge to eventually get 100 looks out of it. Ideally it'll be 50 day looks and 50 night looks, but it might change, who knows?! I'm not going to set myself a time constraint because I don't want to get stressed and quit when I miss dates like I did with my last challenge. So this is just an ongoing, fun, little experiment! No pressure. I'll mark them with a number e.g. #D1 = my first day look, #N1 = my first night look. It might even be a couple of years before I finish. Who knows. All part of the fun right?

So for my first look I decided to work with some ashy, military grey/greens.

I used shade 7 over the lid, 6 over the outer third, 1 in the crease and over the e.l.f eyebrightening liner in Black, and 9 as a highlight. It's not immediately obvious from the pan, but 9 has the most amazing gold shimmer to it and it really added a pretty highlight to the look. Mascara is The Body Shop Super Volume Mascara in Black (I only have one open at a time. I know you must be bored to death of it!)

I made sure to really blend out all of the shadows to create a subtle look. The shades seemed to really enhance the grey tones in my eyes which I actually loved! I definitely recommend clicking the image to get a better look at the shimmer, it's so pretty. This look made a nice base for a bold lip and I wore this with the Revlon Balm Stain in Crush. A highly successful first outing with this palette in my opinion!

I hope you like this look. What do you think to my little challenge? Are there any particular colours you'd really like to see in the next EOTD?

Lauren

e.l.f Studio 100 Piece Eyeshadow Palette Swatches

I've been thinking about doing this post for a while and bottling out because I'm lazy and 100 is a big number in swatches! But I finally decided that today was the day. I literally have infinity time at the minute since I finished my job yesterday (absolutely heartbroken in case you were wondering) and thought that this is the ideal occasion! I struggled to find a full set of swatches online when I was considering purchasing this with a lot of bloggers obviously citing time as the restriction for swatching every single shadow. I actually really enjoyed this in the end and found it quite relaxing, plus it's great to have a personal colour reference. It can be a bit overwhelming when you're looking into the palette and I often find myself reaching for my small palettes because the choice is easier. Well not any more! This is the original palette, there is also a version with some marble shadows in it. If you fancy a look at that, Alessandra from Cakes, Cupcakes and Cosmetics has swatched them here.

 I decided to swatch up each column since that's how the colours are laid out, so I have 10 pictures of 10 swatches each, starting from the bottom left of the palette, going by columns. I hope that's not too complicated! By the way, you definitely need to click on the images for a closer look, they're pretty darn good.

 This is essentially a row of really pretty highlight shades. The middle 3 don't really show up on my skin but I don't see that as a negative. I tend to use shades like this a lot to even out the colour of my lids.

Look at these! Aren't they stunning? Beautiful warm toned peach/copper shades. And I love the canary yellow shimmer (9)

The first shade in this column is a stand out for me. It's this gorgeous dark forest green with a slight gold shimmer. Utterly divine. So many lovely green shades here, I love the military olives and the neon brightness of the 8th shade.

These are gorgeous colours  but they definitely lean more purple or turquoise. I would have loved to see a really striking cobalt.

 One of my favourite rows. Deep raspberries and shimmering pinks.

This is a bit of an odd one. There are some pretty violet shades but also a nice mix of deep neutrals. Interesting combination.

 Go-to taupes and browns. Perfect every day eyes.

Look at that red! It's everything I wanted from Central in the Sleek Glory Palette. Central was great but a bit on the chalky side. This colour is beeeeautiful. Also some gorgeous oranges and mid-tone pinks. Perfect for warm shadow lovers like myself.

Lovely mix of deep browns and shimmery taupes.

And last but not least - Greys and silvers. There wasn't actually a true black in the palette. This isn't an issue for me personally since I have black shadows in my Sleek palettes, but I do feel like it should have been included.

And now for the big reveal... this was all done without any primer. You read that right, none at all. Aren't they amazing?! I have actually fallen in love with this palette and am astounded by the colour pay off. Some of the more matte colours are a little chalky and harder to work with but still very usable. All of the colours were soft and whilst there was some fall out, it wasn't deal breaking. This palette usually retails for £15 from the e.l.f UK website but e.l.f so often have massive deals on and I actually got this for £7.50 which is just incredible. So happy I made the leap, it was totally worth it.

If you fancy seeing what else I picked up from e.l.f during their sale click here.

Have you tried this palette? And which is your favourite row of colours?

Lauren

Review: e.l.f Studio Blush in Twinkle Pink

I haven't taken much interest in blushers at all until recently, but now I'm noticing them every where and can't wait to build up a collection. I picked up this e.l.f Blush in my haul when the website had 50% off.

Twinkle Pink is a pretty rose pink with quite a bit of gold glitter. This looks seriously intimidating in the pan, but it's not even half as noticeable on the face. I wore it all day yesterday and I only occasionally caught a few bits of glitter in the mirror. (Mind you, it's been pretty dark!)
You get 4.75g of product for £3.75 which is a bargain no matter how you look at it. Particularly when you consider how many offers are usually on at elf. The packaging is neat and professional and sturdy enough for travel. It does contain a tiny mirror but I think that when you're applying face products you need to be able to look at your whole face at once so you don't overdo it. I won't be using the mirror but it's nice to have one included.

Elf say: The soft sheer texture blends into the skin for a silky finish. Designed to be worn alone or layered for more depth. Highlight your complexion with a subtle healthy glow!

Generally I have to agree with them. The blush is super soft and not at all gritty, despite the substantial amount of glitter in the pan. And it does work as a highlighter. And it does give me a nice healthy glow with fairly subtle colour pay off. No lies there. However, the wear time isn't amazing. It started to fade around 4 hours on me. Admittedly, I was outside a lot and it was raining... so I think it needs another chance to wow me for longevity!

As you can see, it looks very glittery when swatched thickly on my arm, but blends out into a very wearable peachy pink.

I applied this using just my fingers and am really happy with the coverage! The sparkle is much more subtle on the face.

I think this gave me a really nice warm glow and the glitter wasn't too much for me at all. Even for shopping in Sainsbury's on a dull December day! I really like this and I'm glad I made the decision to buy it. It even kind of makes me look like I have cheek bones!
If you're looking for something matte, obviously this isn't it. But if you don't mind a bit of sparkle, I urge you to give this a try.

I'm hoping to pick up the shade Fuschia Fusion next which leans a little more purple/blue.

What do you think of this shade? 

Lauren

December Eye Make-Up Challenge: Day 8, Smokey

I actually did this look a few days ago but I've kept it because I thought it would be nice for smokey!

I don't wear dark eye shadow very often at all so this was definitely out of my comfort zone. I know I should have used more eyeliner/shadow on my lower lid but I feel like it just makes my eyes look so small... I decided I wanted to adapt the smokey look to suit me. I also need to apologise for how uneven the sizes of these pictures are! For some reason I didn't manage to get two equal photos. Idiot. At least the bigger one is the one with all the impact!

I created this look with my elf Beauty Book in Smoky which I will be blogging about in the future. I must say, I was really impressed with the included black eye liner, it was very pigmented and easy to use, and you know me, I never use pencils!

 I used the 3 shadows on the right hand side as well as the included primer. It's the first primer I've ever used. I won't explain too much about this because hopefully you'll be able to read all about it on the elf blog soon enough as I had the opportunity to guest blog for them recently!

Day 1/Day 2/Day 3/Day 4/Day 5/Day 6/Day 7

I really hope you like my interpretation! 

Let me know in the comments which celebrity you think I should take my inspiration from for the next look!

Lauren

Review: elf Lipstick in Flirtatious, Sociable and Posh

As you all know I recently placed a rather substantial order with elf during their 50% deal and I'm loving the products! This week I've been putting three of the lipsticks through their paces...

First up is Flirtatious. This is a lovely warm pink colour which I think is going to great for spring. I didn't 100% love this with my skin tone but I'm giving it a chance to grow on me. It's a bit paler than it appears in the bullet but I didn't mind at all. The formula was really creamy and pigmented. I applied straight from the bullet and in a couple of strokes it was opaque. As with all of the elf lipsticks I'm reviewing today, whilst lovely and moisturising in itself, it does cling to dryness, so make sure to properly exfoliate and moisturise your lips with these colours! I also noticed that it doesn't adhere very well to the lips if when I'm wearing a balm.

Sociable is bright pink shade with a small amount of silver shimmer. This looks really pretty on and I even wore it yesterday with my Challenge Look but it is the most dry lipstick of the three. I'm fairly certain this is down to the shimmers. Again the pigmentation is really nice.

Posh is my favourite of the three. It's a creamy, moisturising deep red shade that fades to a beautiful stain. I think this will be perfect for any Christmas parties!

All of the shades transfer really easily so be sure to blot and reapply a couple of times. Elf lipsticks retail at£1.50 each from the elf website and are fantastic value for money. I've found that they wear for around 3-4 hours before they need reapplying.

Which colour is your favourite? Which elf lipstick should I pick up next?

Lauren

e.l.f Haul

I'm so excited that my elf cosmetics have finally arrived! I placed my order at night on their 50% off Birthday (the site traffic was just too crazy to do anything during the day) on December 2nd and it arrived yesterday. I don't think a week is too bad at all considering the amount of orders they must have had. I've never used elf products before and I've always thought of them as a distinctly American brand so I'm really happy that I'm getting the chance to try them.

Everything was really well packed and sturdy but the cardboard packing stuff had left a lot of dusty residue all over the products. It's not really an issue for me to dust them off though.

 From top left going clockwise: Lipstick in Posh, Sociable and Flirtatious £1.50 each, Eyelid Primer in Sheer £1.50, High Definition Powder in Translucent £6, Blush in Twinkle Pink and Matte Lip Color in Rich Red £3.75

I also picked up the 100 Eye Shadow Palette £15 because for £7.50, I wouldn't mind if I only loved a quarter of them! Upon opening this palette I was a little surprised to see that the majority of the colours are warm toned and there are no true blues. Every blue toned shadow was more green or purple. This confused me really because for 100 shadows, would it have been that hard to pop in a few blues? Or even a nice golden yellow for that matter! Despite that, I'm still really looking forward to trying these out and finding the ones with the best pigmentation. Hopefully my new primer can help me get the best of them!

I haven't touched a single one of these products yet but I'm really excited to start reviewing them tomorrow! I hope you liked my little haul and choices. What is your favourite elf product?


Lauren