Tag: ELF cosmetics

Brand Focus: E.L.F Cosmetics

On By Manda JanetteIn drugstore, Uncategorized7 Comments

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Hello everyone!

I have decided to start a new little segment on my blog. It is one that plenty of people already do, but I find it very helpful and figured I would do so as well. Brand focuses. I will be doing a look with one brand, and give my thoughts about different products through out the post. I find it very informative and helpful when I have come across these types of posts.It really allows you to see how a brands products play together.

Let’s Begin…. Continue reading “Brand Focus: E.L.F Cosmetics” →

Collective Haul!

On By Manda JanetteIn drugstore, fotd, Hotornot, inexpensivemakeup, Uncategorized9 Comments

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Hello, people of the internet!

I have a quick little post for you, a collective haul! I made a few online purchases, and I decided to show you some of the stuff. Yes, I know that was a pretty redundant statement.

Let’s jump in to this and start with Sephora!

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I picked up the Urban Decay X Gwen Stefani palette, sense it was on sale for $25 and I missed the Naked Smokey palette sale. I thought this palette was going to be pretty basic and boring, I mean look at it. Shockingly, I have been able to create some great looks with it that I can’t wait to show off!

I also decided to finally get the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette. I honestly can’t tell you what took me so long to get, but I am really glad I did. I really want to get Semi Sweet and Chocolate Bon Bon as well.

Next I bring you a few ELF things.

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Oh, ELF. I just can’t seem to stay away from you. I also purchased a few other ELF things, like brushes but didn’t include them in this picture for some reason.

I got the Bare it All Full Face palette. This palette is beautiful! I have a look coming up soon that shows it in action.

I also got my hands on the ilikeyew Bunny Blush palette. I wish this wasn’t limited edition, it is a fantastic face palette to have in your collection, especially if you enjoy peach tones.

$12 for 3 sponges! One beauty blender is almost double that price, so I am really hoping that I like these guys.

Last ELF product is the Artisty Palette. Which looks suspiciously like an Urban Decay Vice palette. It is originally $20, but right now it is on sale for $8!! If you don’t want to spend big bucks on a high end palette, this one is pretty nice.

My last order was with Colour Pop

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Yeah, yeah, I have a Colour Pop problem. But, I work hard for the money I spend on it, so who cares?

I decided to get the shadows in “Bite” and “Stereo”. I got “Bite” because I wanted a matte white, I really enjoy how it looks on my brow bone. I got “Stereo” just because of how pretty it looks on the people I have seen use it!

Colour Pop Tie Dyes!!! I loveeeee Tie Dye anything. I obviously had to get my hands on as many of the TD products as I could. I got the shadows in “Pop Rocks”, “Summer Lovin”, and “Mermaid Kiss”. I am still pretty disappointed that “Meow” was sold out by the time I made my order. I also go the Highlighter “Churro”, it looks so unique! I also love churros the food, no way I was passing this one up.

I decided to take the plunge and get some of their satin liquid lips and matte liquid lips. I got “Lumiere 2”, “November”, “Marshmallow”, “Clueless”, “Beeper”, and “Littlesticious”; which wasn’t pictured.

I wanted to get another Colour Pop highlighter, so I picked up “Hippo”. Kind of got it just because of the name, kind of got it because it is different than any other highlighter I have.

I hope you enjoyed this post! What products have you recently picked up? Want reviews on anything in this haul? Let me know!!

XoXo Manda

A Few E.L.F Reviews + A Small Rant

On By Manda JanetteIn drugstore, fotd, Hotornot, inexpensivemakeup, Uncategorized10 Comments

I have recently made a few ELF purchases, and I am slowly but surely going to be trying out and reviewing them all for you. ELF is becoming more and more popular, due to its good quality and inexpensive price tags, but are all the products worth purchasing? Today I am going to give you the run down of my thoughts on 3 products, and a tiny rant.

Bronzer Palette “Bronze Beauty” $6

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ELF has recently came out with quite a few face palettes. The each have for different slots for product, with pans that pop out so you can customize them however you like. They do not sell the pans separately, maybe someday. There is a palette called “deep bronze”, that is deeper than this one. All four of the shades are either matte or shimmer in finish, and are all pretty soft for $6.

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I have really been enjoying this palette on my very fair skin, it has become my favorite way to create a bronzed and glowy look. I do however, wonder if it’ll be dark enough for medium skin tones. Might be a good idea to go with “deep bronze” if you fall in that category, just to be safe. I see why this is a top rated product on their site, it blends out beautifully and gives you  quite a few options, only for $6!!

Baked Highlighter “Moonlight Glow” $4

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I bought this highlighter because it is RAVED about all over the beauty blogesphere. I have no idea why. I had to really work to get any pigmentation at all, even with fix plus.  It feels dry and almost as if there is a layer of something over top the product. I was really disappointed, I really wanted to fall for a $4 highlight. I am still considering trying the other two shades, maybe I just got a bad batch?

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This swatch took a TON of work to get, even with my finger sprayed with fix plus. I would pass, but then again how can so many people love it if it is that bad? I really think I just got a dud.

Day to Night Lip Duo “Graphic Minimalist” $5

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Unfortunately, this shade is no longer available. It was LE, made in a collab with Tracy and Stef from Eleventh Gorgeous, on youtube. They are so sweet, and probably my favorite youtuber’s so I had to buy their collab. I love it. I love the product, the shades, the lasting power, all of it! For $5 I wasn’t expecting much, but because of this product I now hold ELF’s lip products to a higher expectation.

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I really like creme finishes on the lips, so I was all about this not being “in” with the matte trend. The shades are a warm nude “day”, and a cranberry plum “night”. Both are BEAUTIFUL! The staying power of these lip sticks is good for $5. I did have to reapply through out the day, but not as often as I thought I would have to. They wear very comfortably on the lips, and do not have a lasting scent. If you can, I would check out their other shades in this range!

Now for my rant…

My past to ELF orders have arrived terribly. The 1st one had a broken palette that got all over EVERYTHING. It was all just shipped in a big box, nothing was there to cushion during shipment. My next order arrived with 2 items missing! Yes, their CS responds in a timely manner to address the issue, but I haven’t had this issue with any other companies, especially not this frequently. Has anyone else had this problem with ELF?

What are your favorite ELF products? What brands and products do you want to see reviewed?

XoXo Manda

*Product Review* E.L.F Matte Lip Crayons

On By Manda JanetteIn drugstore, Hotornot, inexpensivemakeup, Uncategorized19 Comments

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Matte lips have been “all the rage”, I really hate that statement, for a while now. Finding a good matte lipstick that doesn’t dry out your lips is hard, and can get pretty expensive. I am here to help you narrow down that search, and hopefully save you some money.

The E.L.F Matte Lip Crayons are very inexpensive. in fact, they are only $3 on the ELF website, here.

Aesthetics

I really love the simple black packaging. It isn’t too much and just looks really nice. I really appreciate that the color is on the bottom of the tube, so there isn’t much searching. I do wish the shade name was printed on the packaging itself, but sadly it is on a sticker.There doesn’t seem to be much of a smell, which I appreciate. They are also CF, I love that(:.

Availability

Everywhere! They are so readily available! I have seen them at Walmart, Dollar stores, Soon to be Ulta, and even grocery stores!  ELF is great about making them selves available to their large audience.

Application

They go on very smooth, it feels pretty nice.

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Praline, Cranberry, Wine

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Natural, Tea Rose, Dash Of Pink, Nearly Nude

For $3, these suckers are really pigmented!

Wear

They do not stay too long on the lips. I usually find myself reapplying around the 3 hour mark. They do not, however, make my lips uncomfortable. I am honestly so surprised by how comfortable they are on the lips!

Overall

Yes, get them. You need them. They do not have all the fun colors that other brands are coming out with. But, for staple colors, these are fantastic! They get a full 5/5 from me, even though they do have a short wear time. They are so easy to apply though that it really is not an issue for me anyway.

What are your favorite matte lipsticks?

XoXO Manda

The Makeup I left un-packed while in the moving process!

On By Manda JanetteIn drugstore, fotd, inexpensivemakeup, Uncategorized2 Comments

As you know, I have recently moved! Because of this my makeup collection was packed away a few days before moving, so I put some products me to use in my big travel makeup bag. Most of these are just products I am using up or ones that I am making myself get use out of. A few of them are ones I really love. I also want to note that I will not be including brushes. I have a post about the brush I always have to have, here.

Prep/removing/fragrance:

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  • Starting with the scented items. I am bringing my Pink body spray in “Fresh and Clean” and my Beauti Control “Island Sunset” lotion. I love the smell of the spray, but I am not the biggest fan of this lotion. My cousin sells this brand though, sort of like Avon, and it was a gift from her a long time ago so I don’t want to just toss it out.
  • I am also bringing my routine deodorant to finish up the sample, which some how still has a lot left.
  • I am bringing my almost done ELF Lip Scrub, Smith’s Rose Bud Salve (which has some big pan showing), and my Peek Natural Lip Plumper!
  • I am bringing my ELF Daily Moisturizer, to get a better opinion of it, and bringing the Maybelline Baby Skin primer to finish it off.
  • I also included the Too Faced Shadow Insurance in this category, but it could have also gone under the eye category. This is a sample I some how came to have and just want to use it up so I can use my actual full-size.
  • As my makeup remover I m keeping out the Estee Lauder Take It Away makeup remover. This came as a gift with purchase a long time ago, and I just need to finish it.

Face

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  • I am trying to use up my Rimmel Stay Matte and my Maybelline Fit Me powders. I know alot of the products mentioned are not cruelty free. I did’t want to just throw stuff away and waste my money. So if I couldn’t pass it on and it was a product I enjoyed, I am going to use it up.
  • I also have a L’oreal True Match concealer in a darker shade to cream contour with. Along with my Maybelline Dream Lumi and Fit Me in “15” to Highlight.
  • I am finishing up my Maybelline Age Rewind under the eyes. And the Fit Me Concealer in “10”.
  • I found that I had the Dream Wonder Fluid Touch Foundation in my collection. It doesn’t have much left in it, so I figured I would try it out again and if I still like it try to find a cruelty free dupe.
  • I am keeping out my Milani baked blus in “Luminoso”, it is by far my favorite blush.
  • I am also keeping out my ELF contour kit and using it for, contour,bronzer, highlight,and under eye setting powder.

Brows:

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  • I am keeping out my L’oreal brow definer and plumper. They are both almost done!
  • My essence brow pencil is also coming, it is lighter than the brow definer and sometimes I just want my face caterpillars a little more natural.
  • I am using my NYX beyond coverage concealer and ELF concealer brush to carve out my brows.

Eyes:

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  • Instead of keeping out my naked palette as I usually would I decided to keep out my Wet n Wild Comfort Zone Palette! I love this little fella, but really do not use it enough.
  • I have decided to keep out my NYX jumbo eye pencil in Milk, it really makes a great base.
  • My Milani Brow and Eye highlighter is also staying out. It is a great multi-purpose product.
  • I am keeping out my favorite crease shade, MAC Cork. I really need to find a cruelty free dupe for this..
  • The Merle Norman shadow in Bare Necessities is also staying out, it is a nice blending shade that I want to dupe as well, but don’t use enough.
  • My liners are the Rimmel one in Nude, Maybelline Lasting Drama in Brown, Clinique’s Intense Ebony, and Maybelline Master Precise liner in black. I just need to use these up.
  • I am also trying to use up the Covergirl Clump Crusher and the L’oreal Voluminous Carbon Black Mascaras.

Lips:

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  • For some reason I was having a really hard time passing along my Rimmel Moisture Lock Lipsticks. I had only ever used one, but I think I was connected to the packaging. I decided to bring one “nude and the city” and try to see if I even like the product.
  • I am also bringing the Rimmel Lip liner in Spice, it needs to be used up.
  • I am bringing one of my favorite lip products right now, the Burt’s Bee’s Lip Stick in Russet River. It is beautiful!
  • I also forgot to mention that I am going to be using the Wet n Wild Setting Spray. It isn’t all that bad and I do not give it enough use.

Have you tried these products? Can you dupe the non cruelth free ones? What would you keep out for moving?

XoXo Manda

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E.L.F Haul!

On By Manda JanetteIn drugstore, freebie, Hotornot, inexpensivemakeup, Uncategorized8 Comments

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I just ordered a few things from ELF and I am here to haul my purchases! I haven’t gotten to try any of these products in depth yet, but I will be reviewing a few!

I want to start off with the things that I actually purchased.

E.L.F Daily hydration moisturizer- I got this because the moisturizer I was using started to aggravate my skin. I had heard great things about this one! It’ll be a nice thing to give a try!

E.L.F Acne Fighting Foundation- I got this in the lightest shade they have. I haven’t ever tried an E.L.F foundation, so I decided it would be good to try one that is more full coverage.

E.L.F Aqua Primer Mist- I still have yet to even open this product. I am excited to try it though, I like the concept and this one is such a great price!

ELF Cream Eye Liner in black- I have been wanting to try more gel/cream liners and decided theirs would be a nice one to try.

E.L.F Flat Liner Brush- I needed one for the use of fixing my brows and wings. I like elf brushes, and it isn’t much money out of my pocket if one is a dud.

I also got the Eleventh Gorgeous Pick Lip Kit!!! The youtube gurus Stephanie and Tracy have paired up with ELF to make a kit of their favorite ELF lip products. I saw this and obviously had to get it!

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It comes with a Mint Lip Exfoliator, the Lip Plumper/ Primer duo, and 2 matte lip colors in “praline” and “Cranberry”.

I am pretty excited to try everything that I purchased! I love how affordable Elf, how great the product quality usually is, and how sleek it us all packaged!

I also got a few extras put in to my order! I used a code that is now expired.

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I am wondering if the Precision Liquid Eyeliner is just their old one in new packaging? Guess I will find out!  I am also pretty interested in the Lip balm in “Nude” and the quad in “smokey”. I really do not think I am going to like the powder in “soft lumminance” Just seems well, dumb..

What are your favorite ELF products?

XoXo Manda