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.

I

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! 

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.

FOTD 16 of 100 2.21.2012

This is a very similar look to an EOTD I did recently. But I am really loving the Maybelling 24 Hr. Color Tattoo cream e/s.

I can never remember all the products I use. I always to write them down. But I'll do my best!!

Products:
Maybelling 24 Hr. Color Tatto - Pomegranate Punk
Tarte for True Blood palette - Immortal, Charmer, and the Light (the only one I'm not 100% positive about is the Light)
I have no idea which lip gloss I'm wearing lol
Maybelling Fit Me liquid and powder foundation
ELF Cream Liner - black
Not sure what I used for blush but you could do either a bronzer or a pink blush with this look.

FOTD 11.15.11(14 of 100)

I'm so utterly confused. I think I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm taking pics and then not posting looks so I have a stock pile of pics and then I forget where I was lol Oh well. Here's one of the looks I had on "file" lol

Products:

Ulta Eyeshadow - Knit; Toast; Sunburst

Ulta Bronzer

Sally Girl Highlighter

Lips: Ulta - Crystal Berries; Lovely

Palladio Herbal Eyeliner - Brownie

Elf Cream Liner: Coffee

WnW shadow pencil - pixie

NYC Skin Matching Foundation

Rimmel Stay Matte pressed powder

ELF Smokey Eyes (Pic Heavy)

I was at Target and I saw this palette for $5 so of course I couldn't resist.

 

I used this palette once before I took these pics. The second shadow down on the left broke the second time I used it. As soon as I touched my brush to it, it cracked. I was very disappointed. All of these shadows are super soft. The only thing I really like are the cream liners (3 in a row on the left.)

3 Cream Liners and Eyeliner

I'm glad I swatched the cream liner because I didn't realize there was a blue one. It looked black in the pan. 

This is a swatch of the top row with a primer base. (Claudia Stevens primer from Sally's beauty)

I suck at swatching, This is the second row. 

Third Row

It's typical of ELF eyeshadows. You definitely need a primer base, you can build on the colors, it's very powdery and soft. I've never had an ELF eyeshadow break before though. 

Overall I love the colors and the cream liners so for $5 I would buy this again. 

**Note: I bought this myself with my own money**

FOTD 10.5.11 (2/100)

This is the second FOTD in my series of 100.

Products:

ELF Smokey Eyes palette

NYC City Curls mascara - black

Femme Couture Mineral Effects blush - plum posh

Zoe & Zac Lip Shimmer - currant

NYC liquid foundation

Rimmel Stay Matte pressed powder