e.l.f cosmetics mineral moisturising lip tint - rose

this mineral moisturising lip tint in rose is the third and final lip product i got in my recent e.l.f cosmetics haul. only one product left to review!

it's marketed as a lip tint but to me it's more like a lipstick as although the shade is quite subtle, (it does look darker in person than in pictures though) it has a thick and creamy feel similar to a lipstick as opposed to a lip balm. however, it's still very easy to wear and the shade works for day and night.

it's from the 'mineral' collection which claims to be made up of the 'purest and refined ingredients from the earth'. not really sure what aspect of my lip tint was made 'from the earth' but i like the idea that with this range you will supposedly 'forget you are even wearing make up' and that the lip tint contains spf 8.

overall i'm really pleased with this purchase, especially with summer's current attempt at sticking around! it is a little more pricy than usual e.l.f products at £3.50 but i still can't complain as it is a great product. hopefully i'll be getting myself some more lip tints in the near future!

e.l.f cosmetics - 'nostalgic' lipstick

      

this lipstick was my second attempt (first attempt here) at achieving nude lips that look more kim kardashian than ill-person-that-needs-a-steak and slowly but surely i think i'm getting there (colour wise!) 

'nostalgic' by e.l.f cosmetics is a pretty nude, slightly on the darker side, with a hint of dusty pink that makes all the difference. the formula glides onto the lips easily and has a similar smell - 'vanilla mint' - to their luscious liquid lipstick (review here) yummy :) it also only costs £1.50... another e.l.f bonus!

it has a creamy, slightly glossy finish to it, although i have to admit that these pictures were taken with a bit of this lip gloss worked into it for some extra shine. i think i now need to invest in a nude gloss to put over the top of the lipstick for a bit of an extra kick and i may finally have found my perfect nude lip colour! any recommendations?

nude feather manicure

left - 'golden goddess', right - 'nude'

 

 

 

so i finally got round to getting these nail varnishes that i mentioned here and have wanted for aaages!! i've been meaning to get another nude colour to try out before i made an e.l.f order but somehow forgot everytime i went near a nail varnish stand so i'm glad i finally purchased this. 

nude is a lovely natural colour which means that it shows up any scuffs or bits of dirt that manage to worm their way onto your nails when being careless after painting them. so naturally, as soon as i'd finished my final coat i decided to cook dinner. cue said scuffs and dirt.

rather than starting again i decided to take inspiration from a blog i've seen recently and attempt some feather nail art over the top. i can't remember where i saw it but she made it look pretty easy! 

i put a blob of black nail varnish on some paper and used the thinnest nail dotting tool i have to draw the centre line across the nail. i wasn't too at all worried about direction or placement. then, working from the base i did a series of outwards 'flicks' which gradually got smaller as i reached the top. i then painted a thin layer of golden goddess over the top to complete the look.

they're not very neat but i hope you get the gist! ideally, i think this would work better if you used a brush to do the feathers as the dotting tool doesn't make very delicate lines (at least with my heavy hands!) i'm hoping to try this again soon though with different colours and possibly more feathers after a bit of practice! what do you all think? :)

e.l.f cosmetics - raspberry luscious liquid lipstick

this luscious liquid lipstick from e.l.f cosmetics is one of the three lip products i purchased in my recent e.l.f haul that i mentioned here. i liked the sound of a liquid lipstick as this means to me easy application with an end result like lipstick. it comes in plain, inoffensive packaging and is operated by a clicker thingy (technical name, anyone?!)

there is a choice of 12 colours which are £1.50 each. more than reasonable for any lip product. i chose raspberry which looked like the most wearable shade. i figured i'd test out the new formula before i decided to go for any dramatic colours! it comes out on a sort of furry applicator and - for want of a better description - genuinely feels like you're applying a liquid lipstick. it's easy to work with like a gloss so there isn't any need for lip liners or really precise application but once on looks like a creamy matte lipstick with great colour pay-off.

raspberry is a dark-ish pink without that browny undertone that lots of lipsticks have so is perfect for day and night and doesn't look old fashioned. i found the colour to last for a few hours and it's easy enough to put in your bag if need be for any re-application. it also smells really nice although i couldn't put a name to the smell. e.l.f tells me it's 'vanilla mint' - yummy! will definitely be repurchasing soon.

e.l.f cosmetics - pink passion blush

 

i was feeling a bit sorry for myself last week and decided that a cheeky e.l.f cosmetics haul would cheer me up. luckily, i know myself well and i was right! this saturday (the day after i received a text telling me that my package would arrive in 3-5 working days) a box turned up holding my seven chosen items that came to a grand total of £19.45 including delivery. yay!

i plan on reviewing all of the products as and when i use them as although they're cheap, sometimes it takes an unbiased description and review to decide whether you actually want to stray away from trusted brands and try something new and i really want you all to try e.l.f!

this blusher is from the 'studio' collection which is a little more expensive (£3.50 as opposed to £1.50...) but for that the packaging is a lot nicer and more sturdy and i assume the product is of higher quality (although i can't say for sure as this is my first e.l.f studio purchase.)

i'm not sure why i chose this particular colour as i'm quite pale and 'pink passion' is a really bright pink but i wanted to try something new and i'm glad i did. i applied with caution slowly building up the colour and ended up with a fresh, flushed look perfect for summer. the formula is easy to blend too and it's stuck around all day. 'candid coral' is now on my wish list and considering that it's only £3.50 there won't be a problem if i don't like it. :)

galaxy nails

another night in, another attempt at some nail art! this time i used my willing friend to try out some galaxy nails...

i didn't have any particular plan with colours, i just picked out the most shimmery i could find and hoped that they worked well together! firstly, i painted two coats of models own 'emerald black' from the beetlejuice collection as a base. then i used the corner of a clean washing up sponge and sponged on some 'golden green', also from the models own beetlejuice collection.

 

i then sponged on a layer of 'pinky brown' (models own beetlejuice again!) in a different area of the nail. i wasn't too worried about getting it on the surrounding skin or whereabouts i sponged it on as it's meant to have a lot of depth and doesn't require any clean lines.

 

finally, i sponged on a thin layer of NYC 'long time lavender' as another back drop to the stars. i then used a small nail dotting tool to paint a few white stars on each nail with e.l.f cosmetics 'white'. you could do this with a kirby grip or toothpick if you don't have any nail dotting tools.

 

 

to finish it off, i painted over a layer of NYC 'lights-camera-glitter' to add to the starry effect and removed the excess nail varnish from around the nails with a nail varnish remover soaked cotton bud.

 

 

and here's the finished result! i'm really pleased with it as it came out a lot better than expected and was surprisingly quick and easy to do, even though it looks quite complex. let me know if you have a go... next time i plan to do them on my nails too!

gold glitter manicure

this manicure was my task for wednesday evening and i have to say, it was more of a challenge than i expected! but i'm pleased with the outcome and my attempts at being creative (and patient) with nail glitter!


the base colour i used was 'dark navy' by e.l.f cosmetics. i'm a big fan of navy nail varnish, particularly because i'm pale and i think in general, black is too harsh for my skin tone. navy is a nice, sleek substitute and goes with pretty much everything!

the real challenge came when i brought out the nail glitter by gosh in gold. i've never tried loose nail glitter before but i was excited to attempt to use it without creating too much mess. 

once my nails were completely dry i used some masking tape strips i made and stuck them onto my nails taking design inspiration from here. i then painted on some clear nail varnish and shook a bit of glitter onto the nail. i carefully spread it around with my finger and tried my best to push it into all the corners! 

this takes patience and by the end of it the table looked like a 6 year old had attacked it on a craft day. however, once i peeled off the masking tape i was pleased with the results! some of the glitter did manage to make its way onto the taped areas but because of the navy and gold combination i have told myself that this looks like stars and was therefore planned ;) i finished with a top coat.

i'm looking forward to trying out some other designs with the glitter but it's definitely for a day when i have plenty of time to experiment! also, on reflection, i may invest in a paintbrush to make it easier to apply the glitter, and remember to put a bit of newspaper down beforehand too.

e.l.f cosmetics - mint cream

 

thought i'd jump on the pastels bandwagon and paint my nails with 'mint cream' by e.l.f cosmetics. it's a nice pale green colour and definitely a slightly different approach to the classic pale pinks and lilacs that i would usually choose.

it took two coats to get full coverage but so far no chips! pretty good going for a £1.50 nail varnish. which of course means i now have my eye on both 'nude' and 'golden goddess'...

 

 

tiny task mascara

i got quite excited when i saw that clinique had released a 'bottom lash mascara' made for performing 'tiny tasks' (cute!) but alas, the £11 price tag seemed just a bit too much to spend on a product with such a specific use that i may end up forgetting about once the novelty wore off.

luckily, e.l.f cosmetics have a 'coming soon' note on their new 'exact lash mascara' which is only £3.50! having used their products before i have faith in this being a good product that performs as it says it will despite their miniscule price tags. i've requested an email notification for when stock arrives, fingers crossed it's sooner rather than later!