FOTD March 19, 2012 (17 of 100)

I have over 30 FOTD's for my 100 FOTD goal but unfortunately I haven't posted them all. I'll try to do better.

This is actually from last week. I was practicing for St. Paddy's day but I didn't end up doing this look.

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I was having such a hard time with my eyeliner this day. I don't know what my problem was. 

 I used my new ELF Flawless Foundation and HD Loose Powder. I've been using it everyday. I like the look that I can achieve with it. 

Products:

NYX Pro Make Up Artist kit - green and brown e/s

Tarte for True Blood palette - "Moss" & "The Light"

ELF Cream Liner - brown

Collection 2000 mascara - brown

Maybelline under eye concealer

Claudia Stevens face primer (Sally's beauty)

ELF Studio eye primer

Lipgloss- generic lipgloss that I bought at Boots in the UK. No name or color.

More E.L.F. at Target!

I was about to place an order online for some E.L.F. products, all my items were in the cart, but I changed my mind. And I'm glad I did. Later that night I ended up at my local Target store and I discovered that they are now carrying more E.L.F. Studio Line products. How excited was I?! 

I'm just going to start at the top and work my way down.

High Definition Powder: I wasn't sure what to expect from this product but for some reason I just had to try it. I'm glad I did. It's a white powder but it doesn't come out white on your skin. It has a nice mattyifying effect but I wouldn't say its the best powder I've ever used. It's not a full coverage powder. **Edit: I've used this for almost a week now and I do love the way my skin looks, in combination with the flawless foundation.***

Would I buy it again? Yes. I've only used it a few time but for the price you can't go wrong.

Good mattyifying powder? Yes.

High definition and lives up to what its supposed to do? Inconclusive. I need to use it more.

1-10 scale, Satisfied with this product (1 being not satisfied at all)? 8

E.L.F. Flawless Finish Foundation: I wouldn't say its flawless finish. I haven't used it that much but I don't think it lives up to that name. In my opinion, its not a full coverage foundation. I would say medium coverage. I don't like cosmetics that have a scent to them. Even though this one smells really nice, kind of like soap, I just don't like it. 

Why do I like it? Its good value for the price. It's a good everyday foundation. I love the pump dispenser. It's SPF 15 (that's always a plus in my book).

Would I buy it again? I haven't used it that much to really say but my initial thought is that I would buy it again.

Lives up to what it claims to do (in this case, flawless finish)? For me it did not. But that doesn't make it a bad foundation. **EDIT: I still wouldn't say "flawless" finish but I do think its a full coverage foundation. I've been using my blending sponge to apply.**

1-10 scale, satisfied with this product (1 being not satisfied at all) ? I give it 7 overall only because of the scent and I was expecting more full coverage. **EDIT: The smell doesn't bother me as much as I expected to and when I use my blending sponge to apply (on top of face primer) the coverage is pretty full. New rating: 9**

Eye Primer and Liner Sealer: (I'm only going to comment on the primer because I haven't used the sealer yet.) To be fair, I've only used the primer once but my eyeshadow held up all day with no creasing so what more can one ask for? I guess if I had to say something bad it would be that I didn't find the eyeshadow easily blendable after it was applied on top of this primer (it wasn't terribly difficult to blend either but I had to have one critique I guess). But I have found that with other primers too.**EDIT: I've used a few more times not and I like it a lot. No creasing after all day wear (6+ hrs.) and as far as blendability, it depends on the eyeshadow. No problems with my NYX or Tarte eyeshadow.**

Would I buy it again? Yes. Again, good value for the money.

Lives up to its claim? Yes. A good primer makes your eyeshadow more vibrant and helps it to stay in place all day. It did both of those things. 

1-10 scale, satisfied with this product (1 being not satisfied at all)? 8 only because I haven't used it enough. But it has 10 potential. 

Once I start using the products more I'll comment here and there as I use them in my FOTD's. 

Thanks for reading! 

MyGlam March 2012

 

Although this is my favorite Glam Bag thus far (I wasn't enrolled in December so I didn't get that bag) there are a few down sides to it. 

1)The smell that everyone is complaining about, yah its pretty bad. Mine smells like moth balls. It could be worse. I think it will air out. 

2) I am really sick of skin care stuff. And small little sachet samples. They promised deluxe samples so they failed to deliver there. 

3) $25 coupon that they insist on calling a gift card. Its not a gift card. A gift card can be used as cash with no limitations, this doesn't do that. 

4) Keracolor, not sure what to do with that. 

Now, the reasons this is my favorite bag so far??

1) I LOVE make up brushes. This one is soft and its pink so I'm all about that. And they're supposedly going to add to the collection in the upcoming months so that's a plus.

2) I got the lip treatment! I am addicted to lip balms and what not so this is perfect for me.

I know there are 2 pros and 4 cons but I still love this bag. Maybe I'm crazy. I MIGHT use the dermstore coupon but I'm on the fence about it because I would still have to spend $25+ to use it. 

I am going to stick with MyGlam and see what the future holds. Hopefully they'll listen to their ambassadors and deliver more make up, which is what I really want, and its the reason I signed up. I'll think positive!

EOTD 2.29.12

Happy Leap Day!!

I felt like going a little colorful today.

Products:
Sleek "Acid" Palette
BH Cosmetics gel liner - storm & frost
Ulta mascara - black

Great Find

I'm not sure where else in the world there is a store called "5 Below" but I go my local one and they have these great crackle finger nail polishes. They sell them 2/$5 which I think is reasonable. I bought this one this weekend:

I haven't used it yet but I have a white one that is the same brand and I love it so I'm hoping I love this one too. I'll let you know!

Small Haul

I got a few things this past couple of weeks. I really to go on a no-buy.

So, this is my order from BH Cosmetics. Its my first time ordering from them. I got the stippling brush and the crease brush. Both synthetic. Then I got 2 gel liners, Frost and Storm. I haven't used the gel liners yet but the brushes are great.

Liquid eyeliner. Super pigmented.

Maybelline Bouncy Blush

Extreme Wear Cream Shadow. It goes on a little wet but once it dries it doesn't move.

This is perfectly tinted. When you put it on, unlike some brands, it is actually tinted.

I love Ulta. I only ordered a couple of things from them but I received the free 13 piece cosmetic set. I haven't used everything in the set yet. I used one of the eyeshadow palettes and the mascara (which is not shown here, ooooppps). The eyeshadow pigmentation is mediocre but it was free so its all good. I like the mascara, it does actually my lashes look good and stand out. And the free bag is a good size. Even if you put all of this stuff in it there's still more room.

Thanks for reading!!!

My Favorite Brushes

We all have our favorite brushes that we can't live without. You know the ones, the ones you use everyday even though you have dozens of other brushes. Well, these are just a few of mine. I'm not sentimental about any one brand, I just buy whatever I think looks like it will work.

From top to bottom:
Micabella Face  brush. I won  this one on Makeup Talk . I've not heard good things about this company but I love this brush. It blends really well. I believe its synthetic. It was designed for mineral make up but I find that it works well with all make up.

BH  Cosmetics Crease Brush. This brush works really well for the crease. I only just bought it and I've used it twice but its fabulous.

Sonia Kashuk Foundation Brush. I bought this one at Target as well. I'm not keen on using it for a foundation brush but I love using it for my concealer.

 

If you own any brushes from "Real Techniques" then you will know exactly why I love these two purple ones. I wish I had better pics but I've been messing around with my camera and lighting and it took me forever to get these and then I just didn't have any more time and I really wanted to get this post up. But I think you get the point :) 

From top to bottom:  

Sonia Kashuk Brush: I recently bought this one. Its not intended as a crease brush but thats what I use it as. And I sweep the clean brush over my eye lid after eyeshadow application just to give my eyeshadow a softer look. 

Up and Up Creas Brush:  I bought this one from Target. It was $1.99 and its my all time favorite brush. It works amazingly well for the crease. It makes blending a breeze. 

Real Techniques: I bought these from Ulta. I'm not sure what they're officially classed as by the brand but I use the small one for my outer "V" and crease and I use the bigger one to add a light wash over of color under my brow. 

I just washed these brushes and the bristles went a little funny shaped on me. These are synthetic. 

For Real Techniques Brushes, just visit the link. You can also find more info about their brushes on their web site. 

 

Three more brushes that are also synthetic. 

Left to Right

ELF Eyeliner Brush: I use this brush for my gel liner and my cream liners. What else can I say about it? It works great.  

Sonia Kashuk Smudge Brush: Again, this brush does exactly what its designed to do. I use it to smudge eyeliner on the lower lash line for a smokey look and on the upper lash line for a soft eyeliner look. I also use as a precision brush to apply eyeshadow.

Not Sure What This One Is: I have had this brush for years. I don't even know where I got it from. I use it to apply eyeshadow to the lid. 

I saved the best for last. ELF Flat Top Brush: I use it to apply liquid foundation and I have a second one for powder foundation. I also use it to blend my blush if I happen to have a heavy hand that day.

I think that's about it. I have tons of brushes but these are the ones that I use everyday. Because I am the only one who uses these brushes I do my best to thoroughly wash them once a week. I try to wash the ones that I use for my liquid foundation more often than that.