Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Tuesday's FOTD! (wearing my elf peachy keen blush)


 Here's a couple of angled shots to show the blush better.. 

Face: 
Estee Lauder Time Zone Line & Wrinkle Reducing Lotion (my face has been really dry lately)
Maybelline Coverstick Concealer #Medium Beige
Cinema Secrets Ultimate Foundation #301 (applied lightly under my eyes for added coverage)
NARS Sheer Glow Foundation #Stromboli
MAC Powder Blush #Taupe (to contour cheeks & hairline)
ELF Studio Blush #Peachy Keen

Eyes:
Shiseido Mascara Base
Covergirl Lash Blast #Black
Ardell 111 false lashes cut in 1/2
Hard Candy Walk the Line Liquid Liner #Praline

Brows: 
ELF EyeBrow Kit #Medium
ELF Eyebrow Treat & Tame #Dark

Lips: (most of it wore off by the time I took the pictures)
Sephora Nano Lip Liner Pencil #2
Hard Candy Lipstick #Fire Alarm
Clear Lip Gloss

 G'nite all! :)

Review: ELF Studio Eyebrow Kit & Eyebrow Treat & Tame + Swatches & Photos!

I have a couple more reviews of ELF Studio products for you tonight!

Considering I haven't tried any ELF makeup prior to my recent order, I really had no idea what to purchase. So I basically purchased items that had the highest ratings. The "Eyebrow Kit" is rated 4.5/5 stars based on 300+ ratings and the "Eyebrow Treat & Tame" is rated 4/5 stars based on 100+ reviews. I love experimenting with new brow products, so I thought I'd give them a try.

I purchased the Eyebrow Kit in the shade "Medium" and the Treat & Tame in the shades Medium and Dark.

ELF Studio Eyebrow Kit contains a colored wax on one side and a brow powder on the other side as well as a small double sided taklon brush that has a rounded side for filling in and an angled side for defining. The kit comes in four (4) different shades. Light, Medium, Dark and Ash. All shades can be viewed here. In the shade Medium, the wax is dark brown and the powder is a chestnut brown. Luckily, it matched my brows very good. The consistency of the wax is not thick or cakey like other brow waxes I have tried in the past. It has just the right amount of pigment.. It applies very lightly and natural & is not at all harsh or overpowering. The brow powder is also very nice. Again, it is not too pigmented and harsh. The two work great together. I have used the brush and it works fine, but for my personal preference, I like to use a full sized brush. I used Coastal Scents Divine Taklon liner brush. I really liked the outcome.
ELF Studio Treat & Tame is a double sided tube that contains a vitamin infused gel that is formulated to "stimulate" hair follicles to re-grow & thicken your brows and the other side is a tinted brow mascara that is infused with fibers so it will grip to your brows and keep them in place. So you've got your treat and your tame. The Treat & Tame comes in four (4) different shades. Light, Medium, Dark and Ash. You can view all of the shades here. As mentioned before, I purchased Medium and Dark. I purchased both because I couldn't find any swatches of the shades to see what they really look like. I was pleased to see that neither shades have any reddish/orange tints to them. The dark brown is like a milk chocolate brown and the medium is simply a shade lighter. I was hoping this was going to be something like MAC's Brow Set.. and I am pleased to say that it is somewhat similar. MAC's Brow Set is much more thick and pigmented though. I always have to wipe off the applicator to make sure I don't apply too much. With the Treat & Tame, it's somewhere in between. It's not tinted for no reason ( like Revlon's Brow Fantasy has a tinted mascara on one side and a pencil on the other.. and the mascara adds absolutely no color to the brows. It may as well be clear). It's pigmented enough to tint my brows to match my brow powder. This gives a better overall, natural look to my brows. Another product I am very pleased with. I haven't actually used the Treat side, and I'm not sure if I will.. but I may just to see if it does anything. 

I used Dark in this photo and it's what I have been using. It matches my hair very well.

Overall, these products worked great for me.. and you can't beat the $3 price tag!

As always, I hope this post was useful for you! And, if any of you have tried these products.. post your thoughts in the comments! :)

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with ELF. I was not paid or compensated in any way for this review. I paid for this product myself and as always, my reviews are honest and are based on my personal experience in using the product.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Haul: ELF Studio Blushes! + Swatches & Photos!


Candid Coral is a soft coral pink with a golden, coral sheen. Its appears to be a similar shade to MAC Springsheen or NARS Orgasm. Peachy Keen is a soft, natural pink with a golden sheen. And, Gotta Glow is a highlight color that is basically a sheer white with a golden yellow sheen - similar to MAC Vanilla pigment or NARS Albatross. My favorite of the three is Peachy Keen. I think it's a pretty every day color. The blushes are very soft and powdery, pigmented and lasted all day over my foundation. None of the shades appear to be overly shimmery.

The every day price for these blushes are $3.00. There are 9 shades in total.You can view them all here.
Have you tried any of their blushes or bronzers? What did you think?

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with ELF. I was not paid or compensated in any way for this review. I paid for this product myself and as always, my reviews are honest and are based on my personal experience in using the product.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Dyed my hair & gave myself a trim.. :)

Hey Guys!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far.. I've been cuddled up all day in my house because today was the first snow fall of the winter for Chicago.. I love the snow and all, but I do not love driving in it. lol Anyways, Thursday night I decided to dye my hair because it had started to lighten up a bit. I've been using the same hair dye for months now. Clairol Natural Instincts Brass Free Brunettes 5C Medium Brown. The dye is semi-permanent, so the color fades quite fast. I try to limit the fading as much as possible by using color care shampoo's.. but 4-6 weeks seems to be the time limit. I dye it closer to the 6th week mark. The reason I keep using this particular dye over and over is because It always gives me a natural dark, rich brown (it actually looks identical to my actual hair color) with no "brassy" or unnatural tones. When my hair color fades, it fades to a light-medium auburn brown. I don't like auburn tones at all in my hair.. so this dye eliminates it well (temporarily). Also, what I love best of all is that you only need it in your hair for 10 minutes before you shower. After I rinsed my hair thoroughly, I applied some coconut oil throughout my hair and left it in for about 10 minutes to add a little shine to my hair. Then I shampooed (I always do even though it says for the best results wait a day) and let my hair air dry. My color came out extra shiny and the color was exactly as I wanted it. I noticed my ends were looking really uneven as I was flat ironing my hair, so I ended up evening out all of the ends of my layers by an inch or so and trimmed around 2 inches off of the total length of my hair. It definitely is looking a lot healthier. I was thinking of giving myself some wispy in my face bangs. What do you think??
(sorry for my lack of any facial expression lol)