ELF Duo Eye Shadow Cream

Elf Duo Eye shadow cream Left: Butter Pecan Right: Sugar Cookie

These little babies are awesome!! 



I can't blow Elf's trumpet anymore than I have already. Elf are a fantastic brand, and I am a huge fan! Their products are really a bit hit and miss. These Duo Eye shadow creams are one of their products that have gotten mixed reviews in other blogs i've read, but I really like them. 
First thing I like is the price they're only €1.70. They really could charge more for these seeing as you get two different shades of cream shadow in one pot.

Sugar Cookie

The first one I have, which is my favourite of the two is Sugar Cookie. This has a light pink shade and a golden one. They didn't swatch too well because they are so light and because my skin is so ghostly looking that they don't show up great on my hand...so sorry about that! 

Sugar Cookie Swatch Left: Pink shade, Right: Golden shade

Butter Pecan

The second one I have is the Butter Pecan one, and I haven't used this one as much as Sugar Cookie but it's still really pretty! It has a dark brown shade that has a goldness to it and the lighter side is a hard one to describe, its kind of a brown/pink/peachy/gold colour.

Butter Pecan Swatch Left: Darker Brown/Golden shade Right: Lighter Peachy/Pink/Brown/Gold shade

Now onto what I think! These are really creamy, blendable and quite pigmented. They're so easy to work with and you can wear the colours alone or together. I usually use them if i'm in a hurry for just a quick wash over my eyelid. I mostly use these under eye shadow of similar colours, they really brigten powder shadows of similar shades, make them last longer too, so if you use a primer AND one of these before a powder shadow, you're going to get some seriously long lasting vibrant eye looks.

Also bot sides of  the Sugar Cookie Duo make great highlighters! I bring the Sugar Cookie one with me when i'm travelling because I'm scared of breaking my Benefit Highbeam so this is a good alternative to that or for just saving space in your make up bag! I also want to try the black liquorice duo, im thinking maybe the dark side of that would make a good liner? Has anyone tried that with the black liquorice one before?

Thanks for reading and take care!

XoX

ELF Mineral Foundation

ELF Mineral Foundation in Fair and ELF's Kabuki Brush

I've never really been big into mineral make up, I found that with my oily, less than perfect acne prone skin it hasn't ever really worked. For the most part, it has made my skin irritable and break out so bad it's crazy, I had just decided that maybe mineral make up wasn't for me, when I decided to take a chance on ELF's mineral foundation, and I have to say i'm pretty happy that I did, because it changed my mind about mineral make up.

ELF Website Product Description - Our weightless mineral foundation will help get you on your way to healthier illuminating skin. All our powders blend naturally into the skin, and are so light that they work with your skin color to create a perfect color match. All of our foundations contain sun protection factor (spf) 15 and are 100% mineral based with no parabens, no preservatives and no chemical dyes. 


So I got this from the ELF UK website a while back, and I have been loving it so much! It is €4, and I think it's pretty great! 

ELF Mineral Foundation

Just like your normal mineral foundation, this is a loose powder, that comes in a little container with a screw off lid, there was also one of those plastic sifters that are really annoying, I took the sifter out, as it was pushing down on the powder too much and making it all stick together and nothing was coming out. If you're accident prone like me, be careful if you're taking the sifter out, as I knocked it over and half of the powder fell out!
I wore this on it's own, with just a bit of primer underneath, and it lasted really well, only had to touch it up once or twice where my skin was starting to get oily. As for coverage on it's own - it isn't great. It dosen't cover up much, so if your skin is very bad, I wouldn't wear this alone. 
What I usually do is wear this over my foundation, as an alternative for a pressed powder, and it works a treat! It really just finishes off my foundation, and makes me look a little more natural looking. It gives a bit of extra coverage, without making my face look cakey the way most pressed powders do. The shade is also so light that it dosen't make me look orange the way pressed powders can do. 
The best bit about this particular foundation is that it didn't irritate my skin the way other mineral foundation has, so if you have sensitive skin, this is one to try! I do think this is a very good quality foundation for the cheaper than chips price! So I will definatley be getting more when it has run out, and am also thinking of trying some of ELF's other mineral make-up.
Another thing worth mentioning is that the ELF kabuki brush works so good with this! It picks up  the right amount of powder and it's so easy to just buff this into your skin with the kabuki brush, so i'd say it's worth getting the brush if you're getting this foundation. The Kabuki brush is also €4, and is on the website where all the mineral make up is.




Thanks for reading and take care!




XoX

ELF Mystery Box!

Hi everyone! Sorry I have been quiet over the weekend, but it was my birthday and I was in my boyfriend's house for the weekend and I didn't get near a computer! But I am home now and I got back and my ELF order with my free mystery box was sitting on my bed! Yay! :-)

Contents of my Mystery Box! :-)

ELF Haul!

Ta Da! :-)

The post man finally came with my elf stuff! Yay! : )


I haven't done any swatches or tried them out yet because I already have make up on and it's also really dark right now so swatches won't show up well, so i've decided to use these things over the next while and just post about them as I go. So I bet you're thinking why is she telling us she got this stuff then? It's just to tell you what I actually did order and what kind of reviews to expect over the next while. So today I recieved 3 Nail polishes in Nude, Blush and Smoky Brown, they all look georgeous cant wait to try them! I got some toe separators, a Kabuki Brush, 2 Duo Eyeshadow Creams in Butter Pecan and Sugar Cookie, Liquid Eyeshadow in Sultry Satin, 2 Studio Pigment Eyeshadows in Naturally Nude and Baked Brown, and a Studio Cream Eyeshadow in Candlelight. And I got all of this for €23! Pretty good if you ask me!

So i'll be using these things and letting you know what I think as I go along. Also got a dispatch text from ELF today saying they''ve shipped my other order I made, and that's the order that I made with the free mystery box, so that is still to come too! I'll use some of this stuff tomorrow and let you all know what I think! :-)

Thanks for reading and take care!


XoX

Review: No7 Colour Calming Primer and Elf Mineral Infused Face Primer

A lot of people don't use primers before their foundation, personally I can't wear make up without primer! It just dosen't stay as long without it.For those who don't know what primers do, they basically create something on your skin for your foundation to sit on top of, so your skin dosen't absorb it as much and it makes it last longer. Primers can be really expensive though, but it's well worth investing in one if it works for you. Funnily enough, the one I use is really cheap and it's the best one I have used, but i'll tell you about that later. Some good primers I have tried are the GOSH Velvet Touch primer and the L'oreal Studio Secrets Resurfacing Primer. Which are both pretty expensive, the GOSH one is around €18 and the L'oreal one was €20. I don't have either of these at the minute so can't take photos myself but this is what they look like:

Out of the two of these I would go for the GOSH one, you get more primer, a little goes a long way, and in my opinion anyway, the GOSH works better than the L'oreal. It's also a few euro cheaper and you get more so in my head it's a no brainer that if these were the only two primers around that I would buy the GOSH primer everytime.
BUT!! I have two primers that I use all the time, and they are neither of these! They are:

No7 Colour Calming Primer

Claims: Beautifully soft to apply and easily blendable this formula creates a perfect canvas for foundatiom while neutralising and concealing redness

I have been using this for the last year. I have pretty mixed views on it. Okay so I suppose i'll start with what it claims to do. Yes it does get rid of redness, I tend to use this when I have breakouts, or if I have had a cold and have redness around my nose and it's good for getting rid of the redness. BUT easily blendable? It is not! This stuff is creamy, but when you go do belend it in it feels sort of dry, which makes it hard to blend in. Which isn't great, considering that it is green and no matter how much you blend it in, theres ALWAYS some green left on your skin somewhere, even though I always use a small amount. While it does get rid of the redness of spots and other things, it's not the best primer i've used for making your make up stay on, which is what a primer is for.
This primer was pretty pricey too. I got this in a local chemist, though I know all Boots stores stock the No7 range. I got this for €17 euro. I think that it's too expensive seeing as it's only really good for fighting redness and not overly good for actually keeping your make up on your face, but it IS good only because it's good for redness and like I said it's good for times when you have a lot of spots, other wise I wouldn't reach for this.

Elf Mineral Infused Face Primer

The Elf website Claims: Transform your face into a flawless and smooth canvas with the mineral Infused Face Primer. Developed to combat excess oil, flaky dryness, enlarged pores and fine lines to result in a natural and youthful looking radiance. This clear multipurpose skin primer will prepare your skin so makeup goes on evenly for a lasting finish.

This stuff is my favourite primer. EVER. It's great! It's pretty similar to the GOSH velvet touch primer, but it's HALF THE PRICE! Like the GOSH primer, it's a clear gel that goes on as easy as a moisturiser, it just soaks into the skin straight away. It leaves your skin feeling really smooth and makes it look a little better too. Not only does it make your make up stay put all day but it does help with oiliness and those horrible dry patches. You only need a small amount of this though, as I found out the hard way one day by putting too much on, it made my face extra oily, but when you use the right amount this stuff really works.
Now for the best part! It's only €6. Yep €6. The only thing is you can't get Elf products in any shops in Ireland. So you have to get it off their website, (Which is amazing for other products too. I will do a seperate post on that another time though.) I'll put a link to the primer at the end of this post. The primer is in Elf's studio line, and it's also well worth looking at the other things they have on there too. I definatley reccomend this primer if you're looking for a good one or if you want to save money this is a really great alternative to the GOSH velvet touch primer!


Elf website: http://www.eyeslips.face.co.uk

Thanks for reading and take care!


XoX