Sunday 26 February 2012

E.L.F cosmetics- product reviews, swatches and overall opinion



This post is going to be about E.L.F (eyes, lips, face) cosmetics. If you haven't heard of them before they are a brand of cosmetics that sell many items at very low prices. They have three different collections, the first is the basic collection. The majority of the products in the basic range are £1.50, however it can vary slightly depending on the product. then there is the studio line and the mineral line, these lines are slightly more expensive however they are still great value for money! I have made a couple of orders from E.L.F and I have mixed opinions on the products. First I will share my thoughts on the products I own from E.L.F.

First is the brightening eye colour quad, these retail for £1.50. This is a great deal for 4 eye shadows and they have a wide range of colours to choose from. The quality of the eye shadows is ok for the money however I found that the quality of the shadows varied in the palette I had. You can probably see in the swatches below that the blue and cream colour had good pigmentation and were not too chalky, these were the colours I was most happy with. The pink had great pigmentation but is quite chalky and has a lot of fall out. The purple however had rubbish pigmentation!
Punk Funk



The next product is the shimmer eyeliner pencil, this also retails for £1.50. The shade I have is Grassy Green. This eyeliner is nice and pigmented and is reasonably soft. It is great for applying on the lower lash line however it does not apply well to the water line. When I tried to apply it to my water line the colour did not come off. But for the price it is a nice base if you are using colour along the lower lash line.

Grassy green

I was very excited to try this product however i was very disappointed when i tried it. This product is the luscious liquid lipstick. It sounds lovely, I was expecting a smooth creamy gloss. However i find these to be very sticky, thick and goopy. I have two shades of these, strawberry and baby lips. Strawberry is the most pigmented of the two, it leaves a red tint to the lips. Baby lips is a gorgeous colour when swatched but when it is applied to the lips it does not transfer. These are £1.50.
left= baby lips
right= strawberry



The next item was a big disappointment, but don't worry I do have some good products after this. This product is the waterproof eyeliner pen, I had this in two shades coffee and midnight. But I cannot swatch them because I threw them away! It could have just been that I got a bad two but I still am not impressed! They were dry as soon as I opened them, meaning they would not apply well. These are cheap at £1.50 but I wouldn't waist your money on them!

Next is a product that is part of the studio line, the cream eyeliners. I only have one off these in the shade coffee however since I bought mine they have brought out a range of different colours which i am dying to try! Before I start raving about this product I need to let you know that they do not last well on the upper lash line as i find they print onto my upper lid, however if you have never had this problem with gel liners then you may not experience this. I use this product on my water line and it is fantastic! It glides on with great pigmentation and lasts all day, it also does not irritate my eyes which some eyeliners can do. This product costs £3.50, which i think is an amazing price for the quality of the product. The brush it comes with is also ok, it is definitely usable but you may prefer to use another brush.
Coffee


Another product from the studio line is the matte lip colour, this is also £3.50. This is a lovely product as it gives a beautiful matt finish and lasts really well. It is not very drying to the lips however if you are like me and like really moisturised lips at all times you may want to put a gloss over it. This is a nice product and definitely worth £3.50.

Coral


The final product is the eyelid primer, this is part of the basic range and is £1.50. I have also had the mineral eyelid primer but I cannot tell a difference so you might as well save some money and get this one. I have very oily eyelids so I can never go without a primer on my eye. I was using the urban decay primer potion and then I ran out, I couldn't justify spending the money on another one so I desperately searched for ways to get around it. Then I came across a comparison of this and the urban decay primer potion and it said it was just as good. So I ordered it from the E.L.F website and fell in love, it does a great job. My only complaint is that it runs out quite fast so you may need to stock up each time you order. Since then I have been trying the MUA eye primer and have chosen it over the E.L.F one only because I can get it from my local superdrug. But I definitely recommend getting this if you are looking for an inexpensive eye primer!

Overall I think E.L.F is a great brand as it offers nice products at great prices! But if you are new to E.L.F then i would recommend searching reviews of things before you buy them as the quality of the products do vary. Also the swatches available on the website are pretty rubbish to be honest so its best to search for swatches online. I will be making another order from E.L.f in the near future so please let me know what products you would recommend from them. Thanks for reading this post!



Sunday 12 February 2012

Valentines gifts under £15!

Gifts for your valentine dont have to break the bank. You can get some great gifts at low prices! Here are some of my top picks for valentines gifts under £15!

The first and probably most affordable is the MUA Love Hearts range. This range includes a selection of gorgous nail polishes and lip balms. At £2 each they are a bargain and a great gift for valentines! You can only order these from the MUA online store.
Available at www.muastore.co.uk

Next is one for the guys, this is one of the many fantastic deals from boots. This gift set i have choosen is the Gillette Fusion ProGlide elite shaving kit. In this set you get a razor, shave gel, face scrub and moisturuzer. This set was originally £25 but is part of a half off deal so it is £12.50, a great deal!
Available at www.boots.com

This sanctury gift set is a great deal at £10, but boots have an offer on at the moment where if you spend more than £10 on sanctury products you can get this gift set FREE! So you can choose a few items for you valentine and give them this as well! This set includes a Luxury Bath Float, Body Butter, Body Scrub and Moisture Rich Foot Butter.  
Available at www.boots.com

Another one for the guys, these Jeff Banks purple shield design cufflinks are a wonderful gift. These are available on the debenhams website for £14.80.
Available at www.debenhams.com


Next gift is a Lipsy phone case, both these cases are available on debenhams. The iphone case is £10 and the blackberry case is £12. These are great gift ideas, especially if your valentine has a new phone!
Available at www.debenhams.com




The next gift is this Ben Sherman wallet. this is the perfect simple gift for any guy young or old. It is also a great price, originally £15.00 but now reduced down to £9.00 in the sale. This wallet is available on ASOS.
Available at www.asos.com

This next gift is a simple but beautiful piece of jewllery that any girl would love! It is a Sterling Silver Mini Cubic Zirconia Heart Pendant Necklace from the brand simply silver. You wouldn't beleive this was under £15, at £14.40 its a great buy for your valentine!
Available at www.debenhams.com



The final gift is a very versitile gift and is a great idea if you are unsure about what your valentine would like. The gift is a Love2shop voucher, these are a great idea as they can be used at over 20,000 stores across the UK! So there is very little chance that they wont find something they love! These vouchers are available in £1, £5, and £10 so you can get the exact amount you want.
Available from www.highstreetvouchers.com

Hope you enjoyed reading about these gift ideas, even if you don't have a valentinees to buy for. It doesn't mean you can't check out these great deals!

Soap and Glory 'THICK & FAST' mascara review

In the March issue of ELLE magazine they are giving away the soap and glory 'thick and fast' mascara. This mascara usually retails for £10 in boots, in my opinion it is an ok price for a drugstore mascara. This is my first product from the soap and glory make up range and after trying it I am hoping to get more of the range.
The name 'thick and fast' certainly describes the result you get from this mascara. It gives you volumised lashes with only a couple of coats. I have been using this mascara for a few days and have had not trouble with it smudging or drying up and flaking. It my opinion it is the perfect formula, not too watery and not too dry. Another thing I love about this mascara is the fact that it is not too hard to remove, it isn't as easy as some other mascaras I have tried but you don't have to sit there for ages scrubbing at your eye. As you can see below it is a bristle brush, i personaly prefer plastic wands but this is an exception! The size of the wand is also nice, it isn't too big.

This is the wand
These are my bare eyelashes
These are my lashes after they have been curled
These are my lashes after one coat
These are my lashes after two coats

As you can see from the pictures this mascara really volumises your lashes without making them look clumpy. One complaint I have about this mascara is that it does not hold the curl of my lashes very well and they start to drop throughout the day. But apart from that I really like this mascara and I am looking forward to trying more soap and glory makeup products, so if you have any recomendations please let me know!

Wednesday 8 February 2012

MAC Pro Longwear Lipcolour review

When i used this product for the first time I could not believe it was from MAC! The product i am talking about is the MAC pro longwear lipcolour. According to MAC this product is comformatble, kissable and long lasting. This lip product is certainly not confortable and i would not kiss anybody with it! However I will give it to them it is long lasting, you cant get it off! On the website they suggest using a cleanse off oil, which i dont mind if i actually like wearing it.





My first problem with this product is the price, at £17.50 it is quite expensive for a lip product. But it is MAC so you expect these prices, but you also expect to recieve good quality products. The shade i got this product in is Durashell if anyone is wondering. This product cosists of two sections, a long lasting colour and a clear gloss to go over the top.


 Above you can see what the base colour looks like on my lips, it is a very nice colour but feels and looks horrible. At first it is soft and creamy on your lips but then it dries and sinks into the cracks in your lips. It also breks apart leaving an uneven stripey finish.




Above is what it looks like after you have applied the gloss. I wasnt to keen on this either as it was very wet, however I prefer this to sticky. It made the lipstick  a bit more comfortable on the lips, however it spread the bits of dried up product around making it look even worse!


I would definately not reccomend this product and suggest saving your money on something else! To be honest it isnt even the price, I would be angry even if this was a drugstore brand. It is a shame as MAC is a very reputable company and has many great products, however this is definately not one of them!


Sorry for the negative review but i had to let you know about this product! Hope you enjoyed anyway x

Tuesday 7 February 2012

Beauty Bargain!!!

Hi this is my first blog post, hope you enjoy!
I had to let you know about this amazing offer that superdrug are having at the moment. As valentines is approaching everywhere is having offers on their fragrances and I thought this one was worth a mention.
The offer is on the Beyoncé Heat perfume. This fragrance is fun, girly and sweet and in my opinion a great every day scent! The top notes in this fragrance are Red Vanilla Orchid, Magnolia, Neroli, and blush Peach. The heart notes are a combination of Almond Macaroon, Honeysuckle Nectar and Crème de Musk. And finally the base notes are giant Sequoia Milkwood, Tonka Bean and Amber. All together these ingrediants make a perfect blend of sweet, fruity and woody scents to make a fantastic smelling perfume.
The best part is still to come, superdrug are selling this fragrance for £19.99 and thats the 100ml version, the largest size you can get in this perfume! This size of the perfume is usually £37.99 which means you get a massive saving of £18.00! This is a great deal, you certainly dont want to miss out! So get down to your local superdrug and have a smell, in my opinion this fragrance would be suitable for many age groups as it is not overly sweet.

Hope you go and check out this amazing deal and make sure to let me know if you like it!