Sleek - I just want to make an order! Pwetty Pwease :-(

Well as some of you might know, Sleek launched their 50% off (the whole website) Facebook promotion today. It started at about 12pm and was due to end at midnight. Well, let's just say, even after 5 mins of the code being released the website was having severe difficulties dealing with the high amount of traffic. Because of this, their Facebook Fan page was full of people complaining lol. I tried for nearly an hour to get on to the Sleek website with no luck, so then I gave up. I tried every few hours from about 1pm until gone 11pm and I just couldn't get the website to load, which I found very frustrating... Well, come on, I'm a girl with an addiction to make up and with an offer like that I am sure to get frustrated when the website isn't working! :-D

Anyway, I will have to be patient and hope my wants wont go out of stock in the mean time. I will try again tomorrow and see if the website can handle me trying to access it.

If you are unaware of all this and would like to check it out (be warned, you might be in for a long wait though) you can find out the codes to enter at checkout to get your 50% off here: 50% off - Thank You Bonanza Codes Inside!! 

Because of all the issues with their servers/website etc, Sleek extended the promotion until 11:59pm Friday 12th November, so we all have an extra day to try and get our order in, if you haven't been successful already.

eBay Haul Number 2 - W7 Lipsticks

Here are some W7 Lipsticks I bought from eBay. I bought them as a set and they cost me £6.49 for all 6 with Free shipping (so that's about £1.08 per Lipstick)

The shades (from left to right) are Candy Dream, Coconut Ice, Lollipop, Negligee, Pink Shimmer and Raspberry Ripple

Here is the link to the eBay listing where I bought these from: 

Set Of Six W7 W.Seven Lipsticks - The Pinks RRP £24

eBay Haul Number 3 - Kabuki Brush and Mirror

Yet another eBay 'haul'... you might now be starting to think "she likes eBay!" lol... Yes, I do! You can get some bargains on there and I only buy Brand New make up from eBay.

Here is what I bought:

Review: New e.l.f Lipsticks

I bought 5 of the 6 new e.l.f Lipsticks. The shades I bought were: Classy, Gypsy, Posh, Seductive and Voodoo

Unfortunately 2 of mine were rather damaged and needed replacing. e.l.f being brilliant as usual, quickly responded to my email (I supplied them with pictures in my original email) and told me they would send me out a replacement for my two damaged lipsticks. I have since received my replacements which are both fine and undamaged.

So firstly, they are £1.50 each... so they are very very affordable. They are very pigmented which is something I really like in a Lipstick! I also have some e.l.f Mineral Lipsticks and I don't think they are as pigmented as these ones. I also think they smell rather nice (but that might just me), it's a kind of fruity scent and I find it rather pleasant. I have other cheap lipsticks (that cost me about £2-£3) and they smell horrid! I remember my mum buying me a cheap kids make up set and I can still remember the smell, oh AND the taste!? YUK absolutely disgusting lol.

I feel that these lipsticks aren't as soft as the e.l.f Mineral Lipsticks, they go on well and like I said are very pigmented... but I feel they are a bit stiff/sticky when I apply them and feel a bit 'dry' during application compared to the Mineral Lipsticks (in my opinion, Classy is the most 'dry' out of the 5 I bought).

The packaging isn't great, it is cheap and could cause the lipsticks to easily break. The style/colouring is fine, it's just the plastic tubing seems very flimsy and cheap and I think the lipsticks will break off if you are not careful during application. I find it's best to wind the lipstick up only very slightly to avoid it breaking right off when you apply the lipstick (I needed to apply a bit of pressure during application, so be careful). Another thing is that the lipsticks seem to move/wobble about in the tubing during application. When I add some slight pressure during application, the lipstick moves back and forth, which then leads to indentations and chips on the lipstick wand because the lipstick tips back and squashes on to the opaque part of the tubing. With these chips and indentations occuring on your Lipstick I can see it weakening and possibly making it able to break even easier.

Like I have said before, £1.50 is very cheap and you really can't complain about the price! I would recommend these lipsticks for the price, even if it's just to try them only once. But personally I'm not 100% sure if I will re-purchase these, as I cannot see them lasting me long and not because they will run out quickly, but because of breakages.

If I had to give these lipsticks a score out of 10, I would give them a 10/10 for colours and having good colour pay off, and 6/10 for the packaging.

You can view my Swatches of these Lipsticks here: Swatches: e.l.f Lipsticks

All products were bought by myself and the opinions in this review are my own and totally honest, I am not affiliated with any company.

Chrystal

I won a prize on a Blog Giveaway! Barry M Instant Nail Effects

Stina over at http://sweetcheeksramblings.blogspot.com/ had a lovely Giveaway that I entered, and I won 3rd prize! Thank you so much Stina.

I thought I would try it out today, on top of e.l.f Passion Pink Nail Polish:

Swatches: e.l.f Lipsticks

Here are some swatches of the new £1.50 e.l.f Lipsticks

(Click on images for larger view)

With Flash

Classy

Gypsy

Posh

Seductive

Voodoo

My review of these Lipsticks will be up soon

You can buy e.l.f products from www.eyeslipsface.co.uk

eBay Haul Number 1 - Sleek & Mary Quant

I have been wanting to buy a Sleek palette for ages! I was going to buy one from the Sleek website, but I found it cheaper buying on eBay (shipping was more expensive on the Sleek website), so I saved some money.

I bought the Acid palette as it caught my eye ever since the first time I saw it. I also bought a Mary Quant Lipstick (41 Artful Pink) from the same seller (they have an eBay shop) as they were selling them for £1.75 so worth a try... I have never heard of Mary Quant before though.

 

Small Sainsburys Haul

While doing a bit of grocery shopping lastnight I decided I might buy some make up from their cosmetic section, but while browsing nothing caught my eye :-( ...So the only 'beauty' products I got were these (oh and a couple of other random things lol):

Vaseline Lip Therapy (Rosy Lips), Palmers Cocoa Butter Moisturizing Lip Balm, Sally Hansen Acetone Free Polish Remover (oh and some Flossers and a Hello Kitty Tax disc holder lol)

(Sorry the photo isn't great quality, I took it with the camera on my phone)

I've been searching for a good lip balm as my lips seem to be getting really dry just lately, normally they are fine (even in winter!)... so not sure what that's about.

I also want to apologise for not posting on my Blog lately. I have just been really busy in general, also my migraines have become more frequent and being on a computer with a migraine isn't the best idea. Also my mum has been taken into hospital, so I've been on house duty and my two indoor cats can be rather hard work lol (honestly, more so than a new puppy!)... Fingers crossed the doctors find out what's wrong asap and she recovers FULLY! She has been in there for just over 3 days now and I miss her already :-( she is my best friend as well as my mum <3 xxx

Edit: I totally forgot to add... Swatches of my Urban Decay Naked Palette, swatches and review of the new e.l.f £1.50 Lipsticks, Love-Makeup haul and more e.l.f hauls all to come asap.

Chrystal
x

Glamorous Girl 2014 Giveaway

Glamorous Girl 2014 is having a Giveaway on her Blog, go check it out and enter for a chance to win! Glamorous Girl 2014 Giveaway

My Blog Award - Thank you *Starsglittermagic*

I was very chuffed to see I had received this award from http://starsglittermagic.blogspot.com
Thank you so much *Starsglittermagic*!

Here is what you do when you receive this award
1. make a post about the award and link the blog of the person who gave it to you
2. give the award to 15 blogs that you've found out recently
3. tell these bloggers that they have an award

So here is my list (in no paticular order)
http://beautyshinesfromwithin.blogspot.com/
http://bridgetjones101.blogspot.com/
http://beautydivaindia.blogspot.com/
http://beeroyal.blogspot.com/
http://cococerys.blogspot.com/
http://enigmatic-rambles.blogspot.com/
http://larasbeautybible.blogspot.com/
http://hannah-obsession.blogspot.com/
http://hannahpears-beauty.blogspot.com/
http://thefashionableaddict.blogspot.com/
http://misstania08.blogspot.com/
http://www.onemorelipstick.com/
http://petiterinni.blogspot.com/
http://sparklysausages.blogspot.com/
http://divabeautybox.blogspot.com/

Winner of My First Giveaway!

Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter my first Giveaway!

I entered everyones name into random.org (1 time for 1 entry, 2 times for 2 entries and 3 times for 3 entries as stated in the rules) and here are the results (I can't see to make it bigger and clearer? I hope you can see it anyway):

The winner is... Chicky Spouts

Congratulations Chicky Spouts! I will be contacting you by email very shortly to ask your choice of Mineral Eyeshadow colour and to get your contact details so I can post your prizes to you. If you haven't received an email from me within the next hour, please leave a comment on this Post just incase I might have got your email address details incorrect, thank you.

Again, thanks to all who entered! and thank you for being a Follower. There will be more Giveways here on my Blog soon, so keep an eye out!

Chrystal
x

Have Blogger gone and changed stuff again!?

Is it just me or have Blogger gone and changed the Reading List? (on the Dashboard where you find new posts by Blogs you are Following). Mine looks funky and I DON'T like it!!! :-(

The furthest I can go is a post made 19 hours ago, how am I meant to read posts made before then without clicking on each individual Blog or using Google Reader.

They always have to go and change things when they didn't need to! If you're going to make changes, at least make things better not worse!

Rant over, for now! :-D

Review: E.L.F Shimmer Eyeliner Pencils With Swatches

Here are swatches of all the e.l.f Shimmer Eyeliner Pencils

Taken without flash (click on image for larger view):

Taken with flash:

Taken without flash:

Taken with flash:

Review: They are very soft and apply easily. They do not drag or scratch on the skin - which is always good when you are applying the eyeliner to the waterline in my opinion! I did find that I needed to go back and forth about 3-4 times to get a good even coat of colour though.

Apart from Iconic Ivory and Precious Pink, they are all quite vibrant and pigmented. Iconic Ivory and Precious Pink are the ligthest shades and in my opinion don't have a great deal of colour pay off with just one layer (on the lid), I found with these two shades I had to re-apply quite a few times to get them to show up and be noticeable.

Staying power isn't great, they do smudge quite easily, so it might be a good idea to set with a similar colour eyeshadow or even the HD powder (if applying on the lid). For the price I didn't expect them to stay put long, but to be honest... I own some expensive eyeliners that don't last long either, so it isn't always about how much a product costs.

They come with a sharpener in the lid, which at first I thought was a good idea. But after I used the sharpener to sharpen the black Shimmer Pencil (Black Bandit), I wasn't so fond of the sharpener! After using the lid sharpener some of the shavings (along with the actual liner colour) gets stuck to the sharpener blade/plastic lid and when I put the lid back on the pencil it smudged all in the lid/over the top of the pencil. Then when I went to remove the lid the next time, I discovered a big black smudged mess on my fingers. Of course the sharpeners are ok if you make sure to clean them straight after each use, but I personally will stick to my regular sharpener to avoid the mess.

One small point I am a little unhappy with (and I mean, only a tiny bit unhappy!) is that the Shimmer Pencils aren't labelled with their shade. The original packaging that they come in has the shade, but once that's thrown away, the pencils themselves only have 'e.l.f Shimmer Eyeliner Pencil' written on them, there is no shade/colour on them whatsoever. This isn't really important, but if I wantde to recommend a certain shade to a friend I might not be able to remember all the shades off by heart, but I guess I could always just check out the e.l.f website if I got stuck.

I like all of the colours and will probably use these quite regularly as I like their soft texture... I cannot stand dry/hard eyeliners that drag on my waterline/upper lid! They are well worth the price and I would recommend you give them a try.

You can buy e.l.f products at: www.eyeslipsface.co.uk

All opinions in this review are my own and I am not affiliated with any company.

Chrystal

SWATCHES: Gel Liners

Here are swatches of some of my Gel Liners (same as Coastal Scents Gel Liners)

The ones I bought are the same shades as: True Black, Sky Line, Maroon, Truffle, Stellar, Ecstasy/Boom Boom and Grape Vine on the Coastal Scents website (in order of photo above).

Taken without flash (swatches in the same order as the above photo). Click on photo for larger view:

Taken with flash

Chrystal

Enter My Blog Giveaway!

There is just one week left until my First Blog Giveaway ends!

If you would like to enter for a chance to win, you can find out how to do so here: My First Giveaway! (E.L.F Giveaway)

Good luck!

Haul: e.l.f 1st October 2010

Yeah, you guessed it! another e.l.f haul :-)

I ordered this last week when I heard about the new lipsticks arriving (a limited amount). I also made a comment on e.l.f's Blog so I got a £1.50 off Voucher!

Here is what I ordered: 5 of the new £1.50 Lipsticks, Plumping Lip Glaze and a Blending Eye Brush

More photos, swatches and a review of the New Lipsticks to come soon.

Haul: Coastal Scents Gel Liners? 7 Gel Liners for under £11... eBay is your friend!

Swatches of these Gel Liners can be found here: SWATCHES: Gel Liners

I often browse eBay for make up and have often bought make up from there (only NEW of course!). I wanted to get some more gel liners so I did a search on eBay and managed to find the same gel liners Coastal Scents sell, but for alot cheaper! They are exactly the same (I can compare because I already own a couple bought from Coastal Scents), it's just the ones from eBay have a different logo/text on the box - everything else is the same, the box, the jars, the lids and most importantly... the product inside!

Here are some pictures (more info about shipping/prices below pictures)

(The ones I bought are the same shades as: True Black, Sky Line, Maroon, Truffle, Stellar, Ecstasy/Boom Boom and Grape Vine on the Coastal Scents website)

This lot of 7 (the auction was for all 7, I didn't buy them individually) cost me £10.71 GBP (roughly about $16.44 USD / €12.93 EUR) with FREE shipping!
When I bought my Gel Liners from Coastal Scents they cost me $6.95 USD each (roughly about £4.53 GBP / €5.47 EUR each) and the shipping (USPS First-Class Mail International) for two Gel Liners was $3.96 USD (roughly about £2.58 GBP / €3.11 EUR). 
I just did a quick check on the Coastal Scents website to see how much shipping would be for 7 Gel Liners and it worked out at $9.04 USD (roughly about £5.89 GBP / €7.11 EUR).


I paid £10.71 for all 7, so each Gel Liner cost me about £1.53! that means I saved £3 on each one lol (total for 7 Gel Liners from Coastal Scents would be £31.71!). The only downside is this seller doesn't sell a good mixture of colours in their sets, but they do sell each gel liner separately - but when buying them separately it works out just as expensive as buying from Coastal Scents, so that's why I bought the ones I did.

Don't get me wrong... I love the Coastal Scents website/products, this post wasn't to put them down, it's just I can appreciate a bargain!  

EDIT: Incase anyone was wondering if these are fakes or not the same - like I said above, I have compared my Coastal Scents liners to these and they are exactly the same. But because I can see why people might not be so keen on buying from eBay, I decided to email Coastal Scents myself to ask if any of their products are manufactured in Hong Kong/China, here is a quote from the reply I got:

All productions are made under FDA guidelines and are safe to use. Finished Makeup Palettes, Lip glosses and Gel liners are being shipped out of Hong Kong.

Swatches: e.l.f Mineral Eyeshadows (Temptress, Girly and Trendy)

This post is for an anonymous reader who requested swatches of these eyeshadows.

Swatches are of e.l.f Mineral Eyeshadows in Temptress, Girly and Trendy

Applied with a base (click on any image for a larger view):

Applied without a base (as you can see, they are very very sheer without a base):



Urban Decay Naked Palette

Hi my lovely Followers! :-D  and thank you to everyone who has taken the time to enter my first Giveaway so far!

Sorry I haven't posted in about 10 days, I have been a bit busy. I did say that swatches of my last e.l.f haul would be up soon but I just haven't had the time to take the photos and edit them etc, sorry about that. I will get round to doing them as soon as possible though.

In the mean time, I thought I'd upload a couple of pictures of my most recent make up purchase (and probably my fave at the moment!)... the Urban Decay Naked Palette!

I had said to myself I must NOT buy this (because I am meant to be saving for Orthodontic treatment), but as usual, I just couldn't help myself. But I must remember to be a bit proud of myself because I managed to resist ordering when the last two e.l.f Facebook offers were on! that must be a first for me and I think I deserve a medal LOL.

Here are a few pictures:

I will upload swatches of this palette and the eyeliners as soon as I can!

Chrystal
x

My First Giveaway! (E.L.F Giveaway) - CLOSED

Thanks to everyone that entered. Giveaway is now Closed!
I have hidden all comments (I cannot edit them) so that entrants details/email addresses are no longer shown


******
This is my first giveaway! I decided to have a giveaway once I reached 30 Followers - So, firstly, a big big thank you to all my Followers so far, I really appreciate it and thank you for reading my Blog!
(I still have some products left in my 'Giveaway container' and I will be giving them away in the near future).

All products in this giveaway are from the UK e.l.f website and were bought by myself.

The prizes in this Giveaway are: Mineral Eyeshadow (in either Socialite or Earthy - I will email winner asking for their choice), Shimmer Pencil in Black Bandit, Nail Polish in Mint Cream and Regular Eyeshadow Brush

How to enter:

For 1 entry - Leave a comment below telling me what your favourite make up product is - it can be anything you like. Please remember to include your email address in your comment so that I can contact you if you are the winner.

For 2 entries - Add my Giveaway to your Blogs sidebar (this can be text with a link to my Giveaway, or using the picture above with a link to my Giveaway). After you have done this, please leave a comment below with a link to your Blog so that I can check (also leave your email address in the comment too)

For 3 entries - Make a Blog Post on your Blog about my Giveaway. After you have done this, please leave a comment below with a link to your Post so that I can check (also leave your email address in the comment too)

(If you comment below but haven't completed the criteria for 2 or 3 entries in due time before the Giveaway end date (10th October 2010) then your entry will be void - I want this Giveaway to be fair, so please follow the rules).

Rules:

• You must be a Follower on my Blog (please make sure you are Following Publicly so I can confirm you are a Follower. If you are not Following Publicly, I wont be able to see you are in fact a Follower and your entry will be void)
• You must be over 18. If you are not over 18, you must have parental permission to enter my giveaway (as I will need to have your postal address to post the goodies to you if you are the winner)

Giveaway ends on: Sunday 10th October at 7pm GMT (UK time) (entries after this time will not be counted).

This Giveaway is international.

The winner will be chosen by using Random.org

I will announce the winner in a Blog post on Sunday 10th October 2010 by no later than 9pm GMT (UK time). I will then contact the winner by email, notifying them that they have won. If the winner does not reply to my email within 7 days I will then choose another winner (again, if the 2nd winner doesn't reply within 7 days I will choose another winner and so on until someone replies).


Instructions on how to Follow Publicly if you are currently Following Anonymously: If you are a Private Follower and do not know how to change to Following my Blog Publicly, here are some instructions on how to do so:
Make sure you are viewing my Blog page. On the right side you should see a list of my Followers, you should also see your Photo and Username at the top of my Followers. Click on 'Options' (this is right below your photo), then click on 'Site settings'... A new page should have popped up. Where it says 'Settings for Chrystals Beauty Blog' underneath you should see 'You are following 'anonymously' now click on 'anonymously'... another small window should have popped up. Change your selection from 'Follow anonymously' to 'Follow publicly' then click 'Save' and then 'Done'.

If I have missed any explanation or info out or you have any questions you can email me: chrystalsbeautyblog@gmail.com or comment below (if you comment below with just a question about the Giveaway, the comment will not be counted as an entry - you will still need to enter with the details as stated above under How to enter: ...)

Thank you for taking part and Good Luck!

Chrystal
******

Haul: E.L.F 15th September

Yes, it's another e.l.f haul! ♥ ♥ ♥

I made this order when e.l.f had their Free Shipping promotion for reaching 65,000 Likes on their Facebook Page.

Here is what I bought (swatches coming soon!):

Shimmer Pencils in Iconic Ivory, Precious Pink, Blissful Blush, Boldly Bronzed and Grassy Green (I now own all 9 shades)

Mineral Infused Mascara in Black

Mineral Lip Gloss in Sorority Girl

Nail Polish in Passion Pink

Plumping Lip Glaze in Wink Pink

Custom Compact