MOTD: Back to Basics + A Pop of Color! NEW E.L.F Products!

Something Old, New & Blue!

Hola! Thanks for stopping by today! If you love E.L.F Cosmetics and want to know how some of their products perform you've come to the right place. I used a mixture of newly released products and new to me products that have been out in the market but I now got around to try. Annnnnd if you're wondering what that pop of blue is... it's the NYX Vivid Brights Liner in Vivid Sapphire! ;-)

Let's get into the E.L.F reviews!

Mad for Matte Eyeshadow Palette in Holy Smokes:

I love all of the Mad for Matte palettes! This color selection is awesome if you're looking to create a natural day look and then smoke it out for a night out. I used the less smokey shades for this look and I enjoyed how they blended. It was easy, no fallout and the pigmentation was great.

No Budge Shadow Stick in Rose Gold:

This product is easy and convenient! It applied very well and even. It didn't give me the intensity that I wanted for this look so I applied the next product over it for a more metallic look. I love how the two products worked together!

Shimmer Highlighting Powder in Rose Glow:

I really like this highlighter formula. It's buildable and gives the most beautiful glow to your skin. Plus... they have a nice color selection! Aside from using it as my highlight I also placed it on top of the eyeshadow stick to bring out more of the rose tones. It made it last all day without creasing!

Primer-Infused Bronze in Forever Sunkissed:

This product is a newer release that I was super curious about. I wanted a new matte bronzer so I gave this one a try and I really really like it! I'm not sure about the primer aspects of it... kinda sounds gimmicky to me haha but the formula is pretty good. It's the perfect color for me right now and it blends so naturally on my skin. It's a neutral shade so I also did some light contouring and I really liked how it looked! This is a must try! Plus it's a great size pan ;-)

Primer-Infused Blush in Always Cheeky:

I can't say no to trying new blushes... it's an obsession haha. This blush is formulated like the bronzer and worked just as great! It's a beautiful nude-peach shade that ends up looking amazing with any look. It actually reminds me of one of favorite blushes ever: LORAC Buildable Blush in Tinge so I'm super excited to have an affordable alternative. This is also a must have and I might be ordering some other colors! ;-)

Highshine Liquid Lip Gloss in Bitten Pink:

Bitten Pink is the prettiest nude. The formula is really comfortable! It doesn't last too long being that it's a pigmented gloss and not a liquid lipstick but that's OK. After wearing liquid lipsticks for the longest time my lips need a break and I've been loving glosses lately for the comfort. I wish they offered more wearable shades so E.L.F if you're reading this release more shades! :-)

Hope these mini reviews were helpful. Let me know what your favorite E.L.F product is below! <3

EOTD: Easy & Affordable Fall Eye Look Using E.L.F Cosmetics!

Drugstore Fall EOTD

Hey everyone! Today I have another Eye Of The Day (or EOTD for short) to share with you! :-) This one is also affordable and accessible because these palettes should be available at your local Target for $10 each. I used the ELF Cosmetics Mad For Matte 2 Palette and the ELF Cosmetics Sunset Prism Palette. They make the perfect pair because they're in the same color family and you have the best of both worlds when it comes to shadow finishes: an all matte palette and an all shimmer palette!

I went for an orange-brown as my transition and applied the second to last shade from the prism palette all over the lid for a beautiful pink touch. I then threw the matte plum in the crease and the shimmery champagne in the inner corner and Wah-La! ;-)

I love these palettes, definitely recommend getting them! Stay tuned for more posts coming soon and thanks for stopping by!

Review: E.L.F Shimmer Highlighting Powders!

Never Enough Highlight!

While scrolling through the what's new section on the E.L.F site I noticed a brand new highlighting product and immediately placed my order! These are called the Shimmer Highlighting Powders and retail for only $6. E.L.F claims that these will give a luminous glow to the skin while also creating a soft focus effect. Are those claims true? Let's get into those details! :-)

I first ordered the middle shade in Sunset Glow not knowing what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised! After trying that one I needed the others, haha.

*The formula is buildable

*I find spraying your brush with a setting spray works best when applying them

*They look stunning on the skin when worn wet, not so much when dry

*They make great eyeshadows too!

If I had to compare the texture to another highlighter I would say it's very similar to the LORAC Illuminating Highlighters but the E.L.F ones have shimmers. If you apply them dry chances are you'll end up with shimmers everywhere so definetely wet your brush first.

Here are the swatches. They don't look like much when swatched dry but trust me when I say they look stunning when applied wet! You can see in the pic below that it's noticeable but not too intense.

Bottom line: I really like these! It's a buildable product and the color selection is suitable for most skintones. The price is also amazing! Their baked highlighters were a miss for me because I couldn't get them to show up so if you had the same issue these are worth a try! :-)

NEW From E.L.F Cosmetics! (Drugstore makeup look!)

Who Doesn't love NEW Makeup?

E.L.F Cosmetics has been releasing so many new products and I got my hands on a few! :-) Today I have three mini reviews showcasing the products you see above. Spoiler alert... I loved them all! I'm so impressed overall and can't wait to share my thoughts with you. Let's get started!

*Mad For Matte 2 Eyeshadow Palette- I loved the original Mad For Matte palette so I knew this one would me a must. This palette is a lot warmer than the first one and just as blendable! The colors build up nicely. I used the neutral brown and the orange in the crease with a tad of the brown in the outer corner. I might review it on a separate post because it deserves it, stay tuned for that! This palette is only $10!

*Shimmer Highlighting Powder in Sunset Glow-  Everyone raves about the baked highlighters but honestly they never worked out for me. I saw this new release, ordered it and now it's a permanent member of the highlight squad haha. It's buildable so you can wear it natural or more intense, specially when you wet your brush. It lasts a decent amount of time. My only complaint is that the more your build it up the more it emphasizes texture. Sunset Glow is a beautiful golden champagne color! I decided to wear it as my lid shade and my highlight for this look and I loved how it turned out! This product retails for $6.

*Velvet Matte Lipstick in Blushing Brown- This lipstick formula is so comfortable! It's matte but not drying what so ever. It's pretty long wearing too and the shade... amazing! I ordered a few more because I was so impressed and for $3 it was a no brainier.

I definitely recommend all three products! Make sure to give them a try, the highlighter and lipsticks come in multiple shades to suite most skin tones for such an affordable price! :-)

PS: Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!! :-)

One Brand Look: E.L.F Cosmetics!

Affordable & Easy!

Today I have an exciting and affordable look to share with you! I used all E.L.F Cosmetics and truly loved how the look came out. All of these products are super accessible whether it be at your local Target or Walmart and the ELF Website. Here are some mini reviews of the products that I used:

Eyes:

Mad For Matte Eyeshadow Palette ($10) - This is by far one of my favorite matte eyeshadow palettes! The formula is amazing, the shadows just blend so easily! I love the color range and it kinda reminds me of the Too Faced Natural Matte Palette. Click here for a full review and swatches!

Studio Long-Lasting Lustrous Eyeshadow in Soiree ($3)- This is what I used all over my lids and I love it! It's a whipped eyeshadow with beautiful shimmers that takes any look to the next level. It wore super well without creasing so I'm very impressed!

Lips:

Day to Night Lipstick Duo in Need it Nudes ($5)-  This lipstick duo is simply amazing! I love the concept of having two complimentary shades together and they feel so good on. I mixed both of the shades to get the color your see above. The packaging is really neat too, super convenient!

Face:

Beautifully Bare Foundation Serum in Light/Medium ($8)- I really like this foundation for days when I just want to even out my skintone and head out the door. It's very lightweight and feels really nice on the skin but if you're looking for some coverage this alone wont do the the trick. Click here for a full review on this product! 

Beautifully Bare Finishing Powder in Light/Medium ($6)- This in combination with the Serum Foundation is a match made in heaven. I appreciated that this kept me matte throughout the day and it added a bit of coverage too. I don't suffer from textured skin or breakouts which is why I enjoy the Beautifully Bare products. The silver packaging is really cute too!

Matte Blush Duo in Rosy Flush ($4)- Yay for matte blushes!! They're my favorite because if I want shimmer I can add on some of my favorite highlight haha. This duo was very powdery but once on the skin the colors looked very natural and pretty!

Baked Highlighter in Blush Gems ($4)-  I was so disappointed with this product. I'm not sure if I just got a bad one but it had no color payoff whatsoever. I've seen ReadySetGlamour rave about this product (and it looks stunning on her!) but I just couldn't make it work. I tried it dry and wet but it was literally invisible on my skin.

Here's an overall look of my makeup! I love how it came out and the price point of these items is incredible.

Hope these mini reviews were helpful! If you have any questions leave me a comment below!

Best of E.L.F Cosmetics! (Review + Swatches!)

My Top 3! 

E.L.F is one of my favorite brands! There's so many things to try without breaking the bank and overtime I've fallen in love with their products, enough to earn a permanent spot in my makeup routine! :-)

Today I have my top three E.L.F products to share with you. This is what I was loving all throughout 2015 and carrying over to now! 

First off we have the E.L.F Baked Eyeshadow in Burnt Plum. Any of the baked shadows are amazing but my favorite is Burnt Plum! It makes a beautiful one shadow look since it can be worn wet or dry. You get tons of product and the baked formula is awesome!

Along the lines of baked products we have the E.L.F Baked Blush in Rich Rose. I loooooove this color! I'm surprised I still have so much left because this is a go to color for me. The veining turns this color into a warm peach-rose shade, so unique and beautiful when you wear it with a warm eyeshadow look! It's a great year round color.

Last but definetely not least is the E.L.F Contour Palette! <--------- You NEED this! This has to be my most favorite E.L.F purchase ever. I use it everyday, mainly for the banana powder to set my concealer. The highlight shade is alright so I don't get much use from that one. But the contour and bronzer shades are also amazing! The formula is very smooth and so easy to blend and for only $6... this is a steal!

Here is a swatch of the eyeshadow and blush! :-)

Hope this post was helpful if you've been wanting to try E.L.F and don't know where to start! I highly recommend these products and you can't go wrong because they are affordable but also great quality! :-)

Swatches: E.L.F Artistry Eyeshadow Palette! (New!)

Looks Very Familiar...

It's been a while since I tried something new from E.L.F so I had to change that, haha! I purchased the NEW E.L.F Artistry Eyeshadow Palette for $20 which is the most I've ever spent on an E.L.F item. At the time they were having a 50% off sale sitewide... with exclusions which is new to E.L.F because back in the day nothing was off limits. I went back and forth on it since it was full price but I just had to try it because it reminded me so much of another palette! ;-)

It comes with a makeup bag which is pretty cool! Packaging is simplistic and sleek... I love it! It's a magnetic closure with a full size mirror & brush.

The color selection is nice, I won't say it's my favorite because as I look at it I find it difficult to come up with color combinations. Off the bat there's colors that I love like the burgundy, the bright yellow gold and the teal. But as a first impression I think it would be difficult to create a well rounded look.

As far as the eyeshadows themselves they are not bad at all! They are powdery but the color payoff is pretty great! Some of the mattes have glitter in them but when swatched the glitter isn't noticeable. The quality feels a lot better than their normal shadows. These are super silky and velvety! The texture is pretty soft which causes a lot of kick up but I'm sure with a good primer they will work. Here are the swatches:

The palette also comes with a dual-ended brush which is really good.

So... is it me or does this palette resemble a Vice palette by Urban Decay?! The layout, the size... even the bag it comes with is just like the Urban Decay Vice Palettes. This would make a great alternative for only $20!

Hope these swatches were helpful! I will report back once I play with it some more and work on a look. For the price so far so good! :-)

Review: E.L.F Studio Moisturizing Lipsticks! (New Shades 2015!)

New Shades But Different Formula?

Eyes Lips Face released a bunch of new shades within their Studio Moisturizing Lipstick line and it was love at first site! The colors looked amazing in the tube and for only $3 each I didn't hesitate to get them. I've really enjoyed the previous colors I've tried, I have a post you can check out by clicking here to see those swatches. I was hoping the new colors would be just as good as those but... it wasn't what I expected! :-(

The colors are super pretty but they are so patchy and streaky on the lips. It's so odd, I'm not sure if it's a bad batch but if you check out the post I linked above the others are super pigmented. It's pretty much night and day. I was so underwhelmed with these. I was hoping to find some new faves but sadly it's a different story.

You can see what I mean when I say patchy in the swatch pictures. Some are better than others and may even be more wearable worn over a lip liner. The thought of having to add extra steps to make a lipstick work is what gets to me, regardless of the price.

The deeper colors look so much lighter on the lips. The texture of the lippie is also different from the others I've tried. It's a lot more slippery, borderline waxy feeling. They don't last long at all because of that too.

Bottom line: These were a dud for me. I'm not sure if the formula is now different but it's not my favorite. If you've tried some of the newer colors what are your thoughts? Leave me a comment down below! :-)

Must Haves: E.L.F Studio Contour Palette!

Amazing & Affordable!

Right off the bat I want to let you know this palette is AH-MAY-ZING! :-) I've been testing it out and I'm truly impressed with this palette! The texture is really smooth and the pigmentation is awesome. The E.L.F Studio Contour Palette is available on their website and it's only $6... such a bargain!

I love their studio line packaging, it's always so sleek and compact! They have several other palettes in this style which is pretty cool because you can customize them. Each pan or square pops out and you can switch it out with one of their blush, bronzer and foundation pans!

Here's a closeup of what you get! The size of the pan is great and the color selection is perfect for light to medium skintones. Hopefully they release another one that's suitable for deeper skintones.

Here are the the swatches! The powders are super silky and easy to blend. The contour shade is a really nice shade, not too grey nor too brown...very natural! The bronzer is a beautiful color and it's matte which I prefer for year round. The banana powder is my favorite powder from the palette! It's so smooth and opaque, definitely brightens and helps prevent your concealer from creasing. Finally we have the white powder which is great to clean up my contour. Here's a picture of me wearing the palette.

Bottom line: I love this palette!! I own the Anastasia Beverly Hills and NYX contour palettes but I've been gravitating to this one more! The others are really good but there's tons of shades that I don't use. I find that this one has everything I need and that banana powder is so good! This is a gem for sure and the price is unbeatable. If you've been on the hunt for a contour palette this could be the on for you! :-)

Review: E.L.F Beautifully Bare Foundation Serum!

Lightweight & Natural!

Once in a while I like to stop by the "What's New" section on the E.L.F website and to my surprise this foundation was there waiting for me to order it haha ;-) The E.L.F Beautifully Bare Foundation Serum retails for $8 and there's only 3 available shades at the moment. The site states that it's limited so if you like what you read make sure to place your order asap. 

Off the bat I loved the fact that water was one of the top ingredients! It keeps the consistency lightweight which is exactly what I want for the summer time. It also has Dimethicone which gives it that "serum" like feel and allows the foundation to go on smoothly. 

The foundation is pretty liquidy so I used the E.L.F Studio Powder Brush to apply it and it was perfect! One layer evened out my skintone but didn't cover much. I had to apply a second layer to get it to my liking but my freckles and dark spots were still noticeable.

I chose the color light/medium which was a little too light for me. It seemed more of a light and the following color seemed too dark so I hope they release more colors in the future.

I used primer, powder and a setting spray like I do with all my foundations and it held up super well! The finish is very beautiful, not matte but not super luminous... right in between which made my skin look so youthful. It actually didn't feel like I had anything on which is awesome! 

Bottom line:  I really enjoyed this foundation! If you have imperfections that you want covered this is not the foundation for you. It's very light and not buildable. It feels amazing on and wears well. For days that I just need to even out my skintone and head out the door this would be perfect. It's beautiful, natural and comfortable. :-) 

Must Haves: E.L.F Studio Ultimate Kabuki Brush!

The Only Brush You Need!

If you've been looking for an amazing, do it all brush look no further! Eyes Lips Face or E.L.F as we all know and love came out with a fantastic brush called the Studio Ultimate Kabuki Brush and it gets every job done haha. It retails for $10 which is not bad at all for the quality of this brush! It's tightly packed so you don't have to worry about it falling apart and it's also pretty dense!

It kinda reminds me of a few of their powder brushes put together but softer! It's a pretty large brush but I find that very appealing. Makes applying foundation, powder, blush, contour, etc a breeze! I use it the most in cases where I go overboard with blush or bronzer, it's the best brush to blend with!

The size is definitely a plus for me. I've seen some higher end brushes identical to this one being sold for triple the price so the value of this brush is spot on.

I included this pic just so you can really see how large this brush is. It feels sturdier than the studio other brushes which explains the higher price but trust me when I say it's totally worth it! :-)

Review: E.L.F Studio Blush Palettes!

Great Value & Beautiful Colors!

Eyes Lips Face came out with two blush palettes that I had to try! If you know me you know that my makeup weakness is blush so these were the perfect addition to my collection. They retail for $6 each ($3 with 50% off coupon code!) and come with four colors with different finishes. The blushes themselves don't have names but each palette is made for certain skin tones. There's the light palette and the dark palette, nothing in between but if you have both you can mix the colors to create the perfect shade! I love these palettes! I'm surprised that a drugstore brand came out with such a great idea. Normally blush palettes can cost you an arm and a leg but these are affordable, pigmented and overall amazing!

The pigmentation on these blushes is outstanding! You barely need to tap your brush into the product to get the right amount of color on your cheeks. All the colors seem to be new shades (so exciting!). I compared them to the studio and mineral blushes that I own and I didn't notice any repeats. They are all smooth blushes that blend very well. They are not powdery like the studio blushes and they are more pigmented than the mineral ones, it's a really good mix in formula. I'm so happy to see such a nice range of colors that will suite so many people. Here are the swatches:

Light Blush Palette- These colors are so vivid and beautiful! Even though I own every blush color in the world I still get excited by new products haha. These are gorgeous colors and you can tell by the swatch that the formula is very silky! Most of the colors are a semi-matte except the one on the bottom right corner, that one has some shimmer. They leave a really pretty glow on the skin. That third shade is one of my favorites; bronzed cheeks is a really big trend for the Spring and Summer!

Dark Blush Palette- These are the perfect colors for woman of deeper skin tones! Like I said before, I love that E.L.F is coming out with more universal products. The colors in this palette are more berry shades, ideal for Fall and Winter! With a light hand these will leave that perfect flushed look on your cheeks.

So here's something I didn't know when I first ordered these: you can actually pop the individual blushes out and mix and match them to create your custom blush palette! How cool huh?!

Bottom line: Make sure to order these palettes next time you're on eyeslipsface.com! The quality of these are of one that can easily cost you more than $30 but these are only $6! It's a really good deal and the colors are all fabulous! The large mirror they come with makes it perfect for travel plus the fact that you can switch up the blushes too. Last time I check the site they were sold out but you can sign up for an email alert to let you know once it's available. :-)

Must Haves: Top 5 Concealers!

Cover Up Dark Circles & Blemishes!

Concealer is one of the products that I MUST have, once I run out I rush to my nearest drugstore to get more. I suffer from really dark under eye circles so concealer is my best friend. I wouldn't mind leaving the house with a bare face unless I wear a bit of concealer. Now that we've established how important this product is to me (haha!) I wanted to share my Top 5 Concealers that have helped me a lot throughout the years. Whether its dark circles or blemishes taking over my face these have performed so well at covering my imperfections. It's the best way to get that boost of confidence to face the world! :-)

Mac Pro Longwear Concealer in NW20-  This is the best concealer to cover your dark circles! I tried so many concealers before but nothing compares to this one. And... it makes me twitch just saying it because it's pretty pricey, $19 each but totally worth it! Its a lightweight formula with full coverage which is why I love it. It covers you dark circles completely with looking like too much. I use my Beauty Blender sponge to apply it for a more natural look. They have a bunch of shades and undertones to choose from so you'll definitely find the right shade for you. It has a pump which is a HUGE plus but beware; lightly push down on the pump to get just enough concealer. If not, too much will come out and you'll end up wasting product.

NYX Concealer Wand in Light- This concealer is great for someone on a budget. It's medium to full coverage so it's the perfect formula for under eye circles. It's about $5 at your local drugstore and they also have a nice range of shades. It has a doe foot applicator so application is a breeze. It's not thick at all so you don't have to worry about it looking too obvious.

E.L.F Studio HD Lifting Concealer in Brightening- So here's a concealer that I use everyday! I recommend this one in a heartbeat! It's only $3(50% with a coupon code!) on eyeslipsface.com and it's the perfect concealer to make your under eyes looks bright. It's a creamy opaque yellow based concealer that counteracts dark spots/dark circles. I wouldn't recommend to use it alone because it doesn't provide enough coverage but it's the perfect topper to your daily concealer. I apply it on the area that's closest to the higher points of my cheeks and it works perfectly! It's a key point to my makeup routine!

CoverGirl truBLEND Concealer in Light 5 6 7- This is the perfect concealer to cover up redness! On days that I just want to use a powder foundation for a more natural look I use this concealer to cover up the redness around my nose. It also works for spot concealing any blemishes! It lasts all day too! I don't like to use it under my eyes because even though it's a creamy formula, it's on the drier side so it makes my eye area look like it needs some moisture. This one will cost you about $6-8 at your local drugstore.

L.A. Girl Pro Concealer in Natural-  L.A Girl is a very affordable brand so it never really crossed my mind to try their products before. Normally we associate cheap with bad but this concealer is really amazing! Its about $2-$3 at your local beauty supply store and has dozens of shades to choose from. It has a brush tip application which is perfect for control. You just squeeze out the right amount each time without having to worry about wasting product. It's also a light weight formula providing more of a medium coverage. It's the most creamy out of all the ones I mentioned and covers really well. It's comparable to a higher end concealer from Makeup Forever so definitely give this one a try!

So these are my Top 5 Concealers! If you have any other recommendations feel free to leave a comment down below!

Review: E.L.F Studio Eye Enhancing Eyeshadow Palettes!

A Palette For Every Eye Color!

E.L.F has done it again! They came out with amazing eye shadow palettes personalized to every eye color! Now... we all know that rules are meant to be broken ;-) so you really don't need to use the brown palette if you have brown eyes. But the thought process behind these palettes is awesome. They're meant to enhance your eye color with day to night looks. They retail for $6 each but I got them on sale for $3 each on eyeslipsface.com. They have a nice mix of shimmers and mattes in each palette with a total of six shades! Here's a close up:

The colors are beautiful! If I had to pick one to call my favorite it would have to be Brown Eyes 1. I just love the color combo and that pop of blue completes the palette. The pigmentation of these is really good and can be used wet or dry. I wasn't impressed with other E.L.F palettes, specially the bigger ones that come with 100+ colors. They were horrible which made me a bit skeptical on these but I'm super happy I gave these a chance.  Here are the swatches with primer:

Brown Eyes 2- I love the 1st shade in this palette! I'm a sucker for a great brown haha.

Hazel/Green Eyes 2- This is the first palette I tried and was blown away! The gray and pink shades are my favorite from this palette.

Blue Eyes 1- This is the palette that I see a lot of people gravitating towards! It's the perfect neutral palette with great matte shades.

Brown Eyes 1- I love this palette and this is the best one for my eyes! That second shade looks great in the crease and the first one all over the lid. The gold color is also amazing! The E.L.F Smudge Pots would also be amazing bases for these shadows!

Bottom line: These palettes are worth a try! The color selection is great and if you want to stick with the plan you can pick the one that suites your eye color or think outside the box and pick the ones you like. For the price these are really good! I would wait for a coupon code to surface so you can get them for 50% off. They're pigmented, smooth but just a bit powdery... that's my only con. Stay away from the bigger palettes that have a bunch of colors, those aren't pigmented at all. These are better and worth every penny! :-)