Elf Cosmetics Rediscovery/Haul

Hey Everybody!

Do you ever rediscover a brand that you use to love and then slightly go crazy with their products? Well that’s what seemed to happen for me. When I first started getting more serious about makeup, I discovered EyesLipsFace or better known as elf cosmetics. Once I was able to afford higher end products, I put their products to the side and forgot about them. Now that I'm trying to make more sensible purchases, I wanted to get into their products again.

To start, if you aren't familiar with the brand, ELF cosmetics is a drugstore brand priced from $1-$6 and even recently introduced a skincare line ranging from $8-$12. The brand was created back in 2004 for a more affordable option and the products are cruelty-free. They rely on word of mouth advertising to keep their product costs down. Currently you can find their products at Target, Walmart, K-Mart, and Walgreens, But of course their website (eyeslipsface.com) will have much more products and more colors than you can find in stores. Another bonus to their website is they generally have amazing sales where you can get their already amazing prices for 40-70% off.

My "rediscovery" product for this brand was their Studio Blush Palette in Light which is actually a newer product. It has matte and shimmery blushes and I'm utterly obsessed with the lightest pink blush in the palette. Even with this product though it wasn't until I stumbled across a youtuber that made me go slightly insane.

 

At Target, I managed to pick up three products in my one trip. The first product is their Studio Matte Lip Color in Tea Rose. I've actually been waiting for this product to come back in stock for awhile. I noticed the name on the shelf label and that allow made me constantly check whenever I stopped in the store. This color is an amazing Vintage Rose color with slight purple hues in it. It has lovely staying power and isn't overly drying. It's only $3, which to be honest I have some $10 lipsticks that don't compare to Tea Rose. The second product I pick up in store is the Studio Makeup Remover Pen. I've always looked this product over, but then heard it was really great for fixing eyeliner or mascara mistakes. That had me sold. I'm constantly hitting my freshly mascara'd lashes to my eyelids and generally messing up my eyeshadow. Again at $3 it's practically a no brainer and now a staple. If you do purchase this, make sure you wipe the tip off with a tissue or towel! It makes all the difference between removing and transferring. The last in store product I picked up was their Essential Acne Fighting Spot Gel with Aloe for $2. I use to have this product back in high school and I loved it until it stopped working for me. Noticing they renamed and seemed to add Aloe in the product, I wanted to try this out again. It's only 1% Salicylic Acid which is nothing compared to many spot treatments, but it also has tea tree oil and witch hazel. What I like about this product is that it's a roller ball so there's no need to worry about cleaning your hands before applying (Don't forget great for the purse!) and that because it's only 1% that means it isn't incredibly drying for the skin which is what I'm in major need of!

 

I even placed an order on ELF’s website since I wasn’t going crazy enough. Thankfully there was a 70% off sale and free shipping with $25+ orders. My original reason for going online was because I wanted to order their Daily Moisture stick for $6. I thought this would be great to through in my purse and help any dry spots on my skin. Testing it out I think it’s going to be great for that purpose. Next thing I specifically wanted to grab was their new illuminating eye cream for $10. I was running out of eye cream and I heard it felt god on the eyes. So I’m super excited to try that out because I’m curious about their serum! Plus it’s $10! All eye creams I look into are around $20 and that makes me a bit sad.  Now onto everything else that just so happened to get placed into my cart.

I purchased their eye brightener in Buff on sale for $1.99. I’m about to run out of Bare Minerals Well-Rested and instead of paying $18 dollars for that product, I heard this is basically the same thing! I tested it out right when I received it and I think it lives up to his name! I also purchased a dual pencil sharpener for $1 simply because I misplaced mine and thought, why not?

 

One thing I was really interesting since I’ve never tried them are ELF Mascaras. I always use mascaras way longer than I should because I’m always put off by spending $8 on a mascara. I picked up two mascaras on sale for $1.49. The first one is the Exact Lash Mascara. It’s a teeny tiny wand meant to grab lashes that normal wand may skip. I absolutely love this for the lower lashes. Normally my bottom lashes clump like crazy, but this gave me such a natural effect while still bumping up the lashes. The second one is their Eye Enhancing Mascara in Black Citrine. Once I ordered it I was afraid that maybe I got the wrong color for blue eyes (once receiving the package I noticed it did say for hazel eyes), but I wasn’t even able to try the mascara out since it came to me almost dried out. I bummed, but still it was only half price so I’m thinking I’ll pick up a different mascara for them next time I’m at Target.

 

Now to what I went slightly crazy with, but it was such a good deal! I picked up 7 of their single eyeshadow pans, which on normally $1, but I got them on sale for 39 cents! Starting at with the top row, I picked up Ivory, Taupe, Pink Ice, and Moondust. The bottom row starts with Driftwood, Golden Glow, then last is Wheat. Taupe is slightly chipped away, but other than that the shadows were in great condition and incredibly smooth. I have a palette from them from 6 years ago and these single shadows have nothing on that palette. Just from swatching I know I’m going to be using Taupe and Wheat a ton. The colors are gorgeous for the crease. Ivory and Pink Ice are great highlight colors or just to swipe over the lid for color. The other three are just fantastic neutrals for a collection and perfect to through in a compact instead of taking a whole Naked palette with you on a trip. The only down side is that none of their shades are matte, but they pare perfect with the matte shades from my Naked palettes. The last thing I picked up was their custom compact with mirror. Since they were on sale for 49 cents I just picked up two so I could hold my shadows. They aren’t the greatest compacts, but they do their job well. They each hold 4 shadows and come with those sponge applicators that almost nobody uses anymore. I hope they come out with custom compacts in their studio line because I love that packaging.

That has been everything I got within the last month from them! While it seems like a ton of stuff (which it total is but who cares), In reality I only spent $39 on all that stuff. It’s still quite a bit of money, however if you think about the amount of money you’d spend on higher end products for the same amount of product, it’s practically a steal. I even have a list of products saved on their site for the next time I placed an order for them! More excitingly ELF cosmetics Instagram posted a picture sneak peek that they’ll be releasing a contour palette soon! It’s the same packaging as their blush palette that I picked up, so I can only assume it will be priced at $6 as well. I’m definitely hoping that palette hits Target stores that way I don’t “accidently” order $25 worth of product!  This post seemed like it was going to be a lot shorter! I hope you enjoyed my rediscovery of ELF cosmetics and I’d love to hear if you have any recommendations for any more of their products!

May2015 Birchbox

Hey everybody!

I resubscribed my Birchbox because of a promotion they were having about getting a beautyblender and the solid cleanser for free when subscribing. The cleanser is what drew me into getting birchbox again because I really need to properly clean my beautyblender. While I haven’t received those products yet, I did just receive my May box! So onto the unboxing!

The first thing I pulled from the box is Naobay Oxygenating Cream Moisturizer. At first glance I’m like ugh another body lotion, but it’s actually for your face! That makes it so much better in my opinion. The insert says this product is made with avocado and olive oils and is 98% natural. While all that sounds amazing, the smell alone is fantastic.

Next product I grabbed was Dr Jart+ Day tint. I’ve loved the previous dr jart+ products I’ve received through birchbox and was actually considering purchasing the full size dis-a-pore bb cream. This day tint is said to provide sheer coverage and has spf 15. Testing it out on my hand I can tell I’ll love this on the days in the summer while I’m on the boat or camping.

I see the lovely product colors of living proof! I’ve always been curious on this brand but could never bring myself to purchase any of their products. I got samples of the restore shampoo and conditioner. Also the restore instant repair. Incredibly excited to receive that since the ends of my hair have become less than liked. 

 

There’s a perfume sample that I’m less than thrilled to receive. It’s Raw Spirit’s citadelle. It has a ton of notes and comes off confusing to smell. I’ll give it a try, but I can’t see myself liking this fragrance.

 

The last product is from Chosungah 22. I’ve literally never heard of them but this is their flavorful Lipstick in Jello Orange. It looks like a full size product and the swatches on the hand give great promise for the lip product for the summer. It glides on smoothly and gives hints of color. 

 

This box is highly exciting for me. It’s rare that I love so many products in the box. I hope that you enjoyed what came in my box and if you’re subscribed through them then please share what you’ve received!

 

As I mentioned before, I've had some crazy couple of months and to be honest I have the rest of the year until my craziness ends. Along with the craziness of moving, we wanted to add to the insanity of figuring out how to live with each other, without our parents, and decided to rescue an adorable dog.

His name is Cliff and he's a Shiba Inu who is two and a half years old. Our friends were fostering him and when we first met him, I basically fell in love with him. He has a giant personality, acts like a cat, but is such a baby who's afraid of everything. Cliff had some big transition with space since he was getting use to a condo and now had a tri-level with a backyard to claim as his own, but he's getting the hang of protecting his turf.

Even though Cliff was familiar with us because we were at his fosters a lot, Cliff had to get accustom to seeing us as his owners now instead of just play friends who came around occasional. For my fiancé it was quicker because they bonded instantly. Once Cliff found out I was the holder of his food though, he got so much better with me.

He's a very strange little dog who contours to our furniture, does laps around the house, and fake pees just so he can play with us more when we come home. Prepare to see more of Cliff with future posts because I'm currently working on a project that I'm very excited about!

Appreciation

I've had so many things going on in the last few months. It's nice to see everything winding down. February was full of house hunting with my fiancé, March was filled with trying to close on our house, and April filled with settling in. I am so thankful to have found our house , but I'm even more thankful for my parents support and help through this whole life changing event. I feel like I took my parents for granted all this time of the world.

 

 

 So I need to take this moment to say appreciate the people in your life in the moment. We're always being told to live in the moment and I think we forget to extend that to the people in our lives. Mothers seem like an obvious choice at this time of year because we're so close to Mother's Day, but remind everyone you love what they mean to you whenever you get the chance! With all of that being said, I hope you all have a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there! You are all doing a beautiful job.

December 2014/January 2015 Birchbox

Hello fellow Earthlings!

 

It's finally time to do my January Birchbox and throw in December's since I completely forgot! To fill anyone in who doesn't know what birchbox is, it's a subscription service that sends you samples each month for $10. You can go to their site and review the products you've received to gain points that you can use towards full size products. You can click here to find out more information about their site and service.

 

Lets start with December's box!

 

My first sample product was Yu-Be Moisturizing Cream. It says it's a Japanese moisturizing cream that's an all purpose cream. For me personally, I didn't get along with this product. It was just okay and I didn't feel like it was doing all that much.

 

Next was Sumita Color Contrast Eyeliner in Olive Green. I've gotten their eyeliner in black from a previous box and was really excited to see it again. It glides incredibly well over the skin and stays pretty well.

 

I also got a sample Manna Kadar Lip Lock in All of Me. Their product is said to be a primer, stain and gloss. Again not highly impressed, but it was a gloss and that's why. I also wasn't impressed but the staining power.

 

My favorite product in this box was Rusk Texture Spray. I will admit there is some trial and error with this product, but once you figure it out this stuff is absolutely amazing. I can get so much texture and volume out of this with just a small amount of product.

 

Last product for December's box is Royal Apothic Cuppa Cuppa Firming Tea Treatment Mask. It's a clay mask with different exotic teas in it. I haven't used this yet because my skin has been rebelling and since I have slightly sensitive skin I didn't want to upset it anymore.

 

Now the newest birchbox! It's time for January's!

 

First product was Dr Jart+ Premium Beauty Balm SPF 45. I've gotten their dis-a-pore bb cream once before in a beauty box and I must say I was more impressed by the dis-a-pore cream. The premium BB cream barely evened out my skin (and I was having a pretty decent skin day when I tried this). It also melted off my face even though I set it with powder. Maybe it's something to try on a different day.

 

Second product was theBalm Stainiac in Beauty Queen. It's a magenta pink and I loved the idea of this stain. Unfortunately I hated the color. It's a light stain that can be built up, but with my fair complexion, the color wasn't the greatest. Looking back on bichbox's website I do see they have two other colors that I'd consider trying out.

 

Next was Whish Three Wishes Body Butter in Lavender. It's an okay body butter that smells amazing and is going to be good when I run out of a lotion in my purse. I'm just sick of getting lotions in my boxes because it takes me so long to use lotion that I have a collection at this point.

 

The next product is Nelson J Beverly Hills Argan Oil 7 Moisture Healing Mask. That's a mouthful for a product name. My scent I got was coconut and it smells amazing. I'm excited to use this product because my hair feels like it needs some help this week. It says it turns straw-like strands into manageable locks after one use.

 

The last product in this box was one the excited me and scared me. That was When Travelmate Sheet Mask. It's a Korean brand which is what I was mainly excited for. When I opened this to use it, I was completely surprised that it was a silicone type mask instead of the paper/clothe ones that I've always used. When on your face, it really sticks so you don't have to sit in one place (which I really appreciated), but when I looked in a mirror I felt that I looked like one of those blob fish that you see pop up on twitter as the ugliest fish ever. If it wasn't for the price of these ($28 for 4 masks, yikes) I would continuously purchase these. It made my skin so hydrated and it felt lovely.

 

That's it for my two birchboxs! I hope you found what I got interesting and I'd love to hear what you've been getting in your boxes!

Essential Haul/Review

Hello Fellow Earthlings!

It's the finally part of my Holiday time Haul/review! The two previous posts include Make-up and Bath products. This will include essentials that I've picked up within the last month or two. On to the Haul!

I'll start with Toni & Guy's styling wax. I found mine at my local Target and with the help of cartwheel, picked it up for around $11. I wanted a styling wax for certain hairs like braids and buns. I haven't used it that much, but when I have I've been really impressed with the hold that I'm getting. From the same trip, I picked up CereVe Moisturizing Lotion. I ran out of First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream and every time I stopped in Sephora, they were always out of it in the tube and I did not want that product in the tub. So I picked up CereVe. After using it for a few days, I noticed no where did it say if it was for body or face. Instead of returning it, I deided I'm just going to keep using it. So potentially I'm using something on my face that's actually for the body, but it hasn't irritated my skin and it says it doesn't clog pores.

Next I stopped in Sephora for a skin treatment to battle redness from my random annoying acne I'm currently battling. I settled on REN's ClearCalm 3 Replenishing Gel Cream which goes for $30. I can't say much because I've only been using it for less than a week now, but what I can say is that I do notice a slight difference in the redness and there is a fragrance for those who do not like that in their skin care. It goes away once it sinks in though. I'm excited to see if this will help my redness problem.

I also picked up Degree's new spray deodorant. I actually picked up two because they retail for $4.99 at target, but I had 2 manufacturers coupons, 2 target coupons, cartwheel and with the red card the price of it was .95 cents. I've been using this one in the picture for a week now and I do think it works well, however I prefer unscented deodorant. I can smell this over my perfume which highly bothers me. I haven't asked anyone which scent is more dominant, but I must say it's driving me nuts. I'm not really sure if I'll repurchase these unless they come out with an unscented one.

Lastly is Bioderma and this is actually a repurchase. In America, this product is not sold here, but you can find it online. I first ordered this from Sears website, but when it was time to repurchase I went to Amazon instead. It's cheaper on Amazon and the shipping is faster/less frustrating. I use this to take of my make-up and sometimes just as my cleanser if I'm feeling lazy.

I feel like I've gotten a lot of products within the past few months, but it may not seem like that much to some. Now it's time to save and enjoy what I have! I hope you're happy the holiday season is over and you're also enjoying new products that you've come across

Makeup Haul/Mini Review

Hello Fellow Earthlings!

Today is going to be part 2 of my 3 part Holiday Time Haul/Reviews. I had too many products in my bath items section and the essential items section to do this in one post. I think the Makeup section was the only reasonably sized section. Its anything that I've collected from the end of November. So let's get on with the Make-up!

I'll actually start with a product that isn't in the picture because I completely forgot that I purchased it within the holiday time. That is MAC's Retro Matte Lipstick in Ruby Woo. I ordered this when I ordered a mascara for my sister as a present and thought to myself "well why not?". Great logic when you're doing Christmas shopping. I truly can't explain how much I love this lipstick. Every time I've worn this I get compliments and even get asked what lipstick it is. It's gorgeous and I will absolutely repurchase this if I ever finish or lose mine.

Now to products that are shown! For Christmas, My fiancé bought me the Urban Decay Electric palette. When this was first released, I didn't show much interest in it. I thought who would ever wear those? Well the answer is me because I saw this in person and now that I'm more brave with colors on my eyes I felt I finally needed this. Anytime after Christmas that I had eye shadow on has been from this palette. It's not an everyday palette for most people, but I love it.

The Last Make-up products that I've picked up was Tarte's Amazonian Clay Volumizing Brow & Hair Powder in Rich Brown and Tarte's Amazonian Clay Matte Waterproof Bronzer in Park Avenue Princess. The main reason I purchased these was because I had a 20% off at Ulta that actually included their high end products. I love both of these products and they've finalized my love for Tarte's products. The bronzer is a great color for my pale skin. Unlike other bronzers I've had in the past, this one is great for blending. The brow powder has made my eyebrows look natural and full. I can't say enough good things about these two products!

That's everything I have for the make-up! I hope you've enjoyed part 2 of 3 from my holiday time haul! Part 3, otherwise known as the essentials, holiday time haul will be up in a few days.