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

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

Quick Review: Rimmel Sexy Curves Intense Black Mascara

I bought this Mascara simply to try it out after seeing Sirvinyas YouTube review, which can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Elfdir_wQG0

Firstly the packaging caught my eye when I saw it at the make up section at my local supermarket. I know, that's pretty lame that a sleek purple Mascara tube caught my eye. I was so close to buying it but I decided not to as I often find mascaras don't live up to my expectations and I end up wasting my money. But after seeing the review I thought I'd just give it a go.

Basically, I was pleasantly surprised. Although in my personal opinion it's not as good as my favourite Mascara of all time (Maybelline Sky High Curves), it was pretty good and came quite close! I found it that it applied easily without any clumps, which I always like in a Mascara... clumpy mascara is such a turn off!

I like the wand, but at first I couldn't see it working for me... but after trying this mascara I found the wand works rather well. It coated my lashes nicely and is easily buildable. The wand applied just the right amount of product without drenching my lashes but at the same time it didn't apply too little. Some mascaras I've bought in the past I found they applied a little sticky, and when that happens they aren't the easiest to build up, but I didn't experience that with this mascara.

Overall I am happy with my purchase and the price I paid. I bought the mascara on eBay from a make up shop that sell brand new make up at discounted prices. I paid about £4 for this mascara, but I believe in shops it's about £7.99. You can buy it from shops like Boots, Superdrug and Tescos etc.

Here is a before photo of my lashes (no make up on at all):

Here is an after photo with Rimmel Sexy Curves Mascara applied to my upper and lower lashes:

Just to compare the two, I have already bought the Waterproof version (comes in an Aqua coloured tube)... I will review that soon.

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

Chrystal

Review: Lets Get Soapy

Review: Lets Get Soapy Bath Blaster and Handmade Soap.

I received a Lets Get Soapy Gift Box, which contained a Flowers Bath Blaster and a Caiperina Handmade Soap

Firstly, here are some photos of the Gift Box and what was inside etc:
(Click on the images to view full size)

Ok, now onto the review...

First is the Flowers Bath Blaster
I have tried many Bath Bombs in the past, mostly just cheap ones that I received as a gift at Christmas. Most of the ones I have tried previously didn't smell too pleasant, well, it was more of a case they were just about bearable, and they never looked very pretty/appealing to me.

When I opened up my Gift Box and saw the Bath Blaster I was kind of like a little kid, because it looked really funky and pretty and the smell was gorgeous, and that is no exaggeration, the scent from this Bath Blaster was sooo good. The Bath Blaster I received was a Blue and Pink colour with a little dark Pink flower on the top. Here is a pic:

(Photo taken from www.letsgetsoapy.co.uk)

I was very keen to try it out so I decided to use it in the bath the same evening. So, I ran my nice warm bath and once I had just the right amount of water I placed my Bath Blaster into the water and watched as it fizzed away. After the fizzing had finished I noticed I then had lovely Blue coloured water! (I am definitely going to buy a Pink one just so I can have Pink water! lol) which I found rather cool :D. The scent of the Bath Blaster definitely stuck around which I was very pleased about and I could still smell it on my skin after my bath. I can't stand products when the scent disappears too easily/quickly.

Overall I am very pleased with this Bath Blaster and it does exactly what it says on the tin. I would definitely purchase more myself as I think they are great quality and a good price too. I have already decided to add these to my Christmas shopping list for the ladies in my life as I think they would make very pretty gifts! (they come in so many cool designs) and I just know that the person receiving them wont secretly be thinking "oh God, not bath stuff!" because they just look and smell too good not to like them in my opinion. I'd also be chuffed to receive them as a gift too.

Ok, now onto the Handmade Soap
The Handmade Soap I received is called Caiperina Handmade Soap. Now, normally I either use some usual shower gel or Dove soap... I am a bit boring like that I guess.
The first thing I want to say about this soap is that it smells divine, seriously I cannot even describe it. If supermarkets stocked soaps that smell as good as this one then they would be on my weekly shopping list every week, that's for sure.
My mum was sitting in the living room with me at the time and she could even smell it from the other side of the room. My mum is really picky when it comes to scented products (perfumes, soaps, washing powder and so on) and normally she's honest and says "ergh, that smells horrid!" which isn't always so nice when I actually liked the product! But this time she didn't criticize, she actually complimented the scent and came over to me to have a good sniff of the soap herself. After having a good sniff and saying "mmmmm" she said "wow that smells lovely, can I have some?" and I laughed and said "no Mum, it's mine!".
Not only does it smell lovely it looks really good too. I'd happily just leave it on my dressing table just to look good.

As for lather... this soap lathers up well. I used this soap before bed on my arms/hands to see how good it was at lathering up and it did a good job! It was kind of a creamy lather rather than foamy which just felt more relaxing and posh? I don't know, that's just how I felt at the time lol. Afterwards I kept holding my hands up to my nose to smell them.

Here is a photo of the soap (check out the funky colours/pattern/swirls):

I think both the Bath Blaster and Handmade Soap look good enough to eat and I'd actually be happy just to let them sit pretty on my bath or dressing table. They smell so good they would freshen up any room too!

If I had to say which out of the two was my favourite, I would say the soap as I just love the way it looks it smells lovely.

I also made a quick video of the Bath Blaster in action:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBxK0L7Yzxc

All products in this post were sent to me free for review. All opinons are my own and totally honest. Even if I was unhappy with a product I would be honest and say so in my review. I am not affiliated with any company.

Review: e.l.f undereye concealer & highlighter

So, finally my first review! I decided to choose my favourite product right now, e.l.f's Studio undereye concealer and highlighter

I have quite bad dark areas around my eyes, underneath on the top and sides and I have tried many concealers in the past and none ever gave me the right coverage, or they simply didn't look right on. Also most brands just didn't have a light enough shade for my skin tone.

I finally decided to try MAC's Studio Finish Conealer in NW15 a few months ago. At first I thought it was great, but after a few times I realised it was just too thick and kinda cakey for me. Also the shade just wasn't right, I didn't bother buying another shade to see if that would work - I could have ended up wasting quite a bit of money! It doesn't help I have no MAC stores/counters near me, the closest is London which is 80 miles from me.

Anyway, back to e.l.f concealer. I love it! It doesn't give full coverage, but it gives enough which keeps it looking natural in my opinion. It doesn't look caked on, it doesn't sit in my lines and it's a great colour match for me! all for £3.50!? I am extremely pleased.

When I apply this concealer to my undereye area I just apply a few dots in a line under my eye... I then dab and very lightly blend it in and around my eye area with my finger. I find blending this concealer extremely easy and it blends so well.

Here is a before picture of my dark marks/circles under my eyes (I have no other make up on)

And here is an after picture of my undereyes while wearing the concealer (I have only applied the e.l.f concealer)

You can still slightly see my dark marks, but they look alot better than before. I think this way it looks more natural, I don't end up looking like a caked up mess or a photoshopped doll like person.

I highly highly recommend anyone to give this concealer a try, not only beacuse it's a bargain price but I think it's brilliant at it's job.

I would be quite happy to pay more than £3.50 for this concealer. A big 10/10 for me!

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