Red Lipsticks calling my name!

 

Let's start with ELF! ELF's Matte lip color in Rich Red offers the very best of a red color for the lips. It's bright, it's rich in red color and it lasts on the lips. I just love the formula as well as the color payoff. The ELF Matte lip color collection is just a mere $3 (US) and is affordable for anyone looking for a perfect matte red. I came across the ELF line while shopping at my local grocery store and thought I'd give it a try. The lip color comes in a matte black retractable pen, you twist the holder near the product and it slides up. A coordinating color is also found on the bottom of the pen as well as the sticker with the color name.

 

 

 

 

I'm not fond of the taste of this lipstick, although the color is very pretty I don't really like the taste of saccharin which is what I'm tasting here. BUT, I love the way I can throw this lipstick in my purse and the ease of applying is phenomenal... A lipstick pen, c'mon it's perfect...my picture above looks like I've applied lip liner too.

 

I give this lipstick 4 stars out of 5... And I just hope ELF can make more colors just to see them hold up as well as this one.

 

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Another affordable lip color I've been wanting to try were the Wet N Wild Silk Finish lipsticks. These are the ones that cost under a dollar, so yes the packaging is lacking but is not important as far as quality is concerned. I've owned one of the original Silk Finish lipsticks ages ago but have since forgotten what the quality was like back then. These two colors caught my eye the most, #514A Cherry Frost and #509A Cinnamon. Cherry Frost is a true blood red with shimmer with a frost that is not that noticeable but is pretty. Cinnamon I would describe as a deep true blood red with no frost or shimmer and is moisturizing/shiny. My favorite of the two has to be Cinnamon...which does not give any hint of cinnamon-brownish undertone or anything close to it, I'm glad!

 

Lip Swatch of Cinnamon (no lip liner, no top gloss)

 

Lip Swatch of Cherry Frost (no lip liner, no top gloss)

 

While Wet n Wild makes nice MegaLast lipsticks in pretty colors, with the Silk Finish, not so much. Don't get me wrong there are some pretty colors in the Silk Finish though most of them are frosty or hideous...But rest assured I can choose about a handful of those colors that are worth trying out...like for example Nouveau Pink or Taj Mauve Hal, pretty!!

 

These little gems get 4 out of 5 stars as well.

 

 

Just a little pic of all my favorite reds :)

 

 

 

 

ELF Shadow Pans Project

I like to have my palettes simple and easy to grab and use...While I do love my ELF Beauty books I don't always have the time to haul them out of my vanity and pick and choose the prettiest colors from each book to mix and match....I find it's a hassle! So I decided to toss the paper packaging and magnetize them into a empty MAC palette. Ah! So much better! and I use them now! In this post I show you my way of how I did it!

Step One: I gently pulled off the black foam outline, I started from the top but I held onto the mirror so it wouldn't pop off along with it.

Along the way and thru the shadows I kept gently pulling....On 2 books some of the shadows came up with it but that was ok and I gently pushed them out the back and set them aside.

Here is what it looked like - the aftermath LOL

Step Two: I only pulled off the shadows that I really liked. I must admit not all of the shadows in these books are worthy, so in this step I only pulled off the ones that were awesome. Some of them came up with ease while some of them were more difficult to take off. I had to use a small fruit knife to slide under and pull up. I gently did this because even the slightest dent will ruin the pan and the shadow.

Here is what it looked like after I pulled it off. Some shadows came up with the foam while others came without which was great because it was ready to clean and apply the magnets.

Here I demonstrate how I would pry the foam off the back. Some shadows were a pain to seperate from the foam as the adhesive was way too strong, but I did this gently being extra careful not the warp the pan.

Step Three: I cleaned the back of the pan with a dampened paper towel and applied a plain white sticker (which I bought from Office Depot, like mailer labels) to the clean surface of the pan. I had to trim the stickers the right size for the pan. Last but not least I applied an adhesive magnet to the back.

My daughter wanted to help! :)

Step Four: I put them all in an empty MAC palette. I did remove the wells because obviously they would not fit in the circular space! Inside the palette the black metal sheet was glued on but I did add more glue so that it would stay put better....All in all I think it came out great and I enjoy using all of them!

If you have any questions or like more of these DIY projects, comment below and let me know! Thanks for reading and Happy New Years! :)

ELF Spring Beauty Books

A slight step-up from their previous Beauty Books and Encyclopedias, I feel they have created some beautiful palettes/books this time and put forth a little more effort in the quality of their eyeshadows, pigment and color-wise!

-What I love about ELF Beauty Books-

-Very Versatile

-Long-lasting

-Quality

-Amazing Price

-Nice for travel

Here is the Neutral book with a few swatches of my favorites....(my baby got into it, see her scratches on the eyeshadow surfaces, LOL) 

The beautiful and amazing Smoky book....

Bright and colorful selection of colors, Here is the Bright book....

-Product Details-

$5 each

Limited quantities available

12 eyeshadows in each book

Weight .85 oz, 24 grams

Comes with a black eye pencil and sponge tipped eyeshadow applicator

4.5 Star Rating!

Visit http://www.eyeslipsface.com/ for more info!

ELF lipstick Classy

It's moisturizing, creamy, color-drenched, cheap.....what more can you ask for?

I admit when I first saw these on the market I was a little hesitant to try out, even at a buck per tube. When I found them at my local Target I picked out a color and tried it on in the car.

-First Impressions-

I thought to myself, 'Wow, nice and creamy and the color is amazing!'

At first they felt a bit waxy but I put a second coat on and the color covered all of my natural lip pigment. I was amazed at how soft and moisturizing it felt. So difficult to explain but the color is buildable, with each coat the color intensifies...it is very true to color which I can appreciate :)

(pic of 'Classy' with no flash photography)

I went back and bought another, hee hee :)

-Packaging-

So the packaging is not 'all that' but it is acceptable. The plastic casing doesn't feel cheap, but it isn't the best design either...I see it this way, it could be worse. The lipstick doesn't desend all the way down, you have a good 2 or 3 centimeters of lipstick still sticking up. I love the way the color of the lipstick shows through on the side of the tube.

-Product Details-

The cost...only one dollar :) The product contains 3.5 grams and comes in six additional colors with a total of 7 to choose from. There is a very faint fruity scent which is not bothersome at all.

ELF Little Black Beautybooks - Cool collection

To take in your purse, on the go, or to grab quickly when you don't want to rummage thru your makeup stash to complete a look....I was so thrilled to find ELF's newest BeautyBooks/palettes ($5) and these cute 'little black beautybook' palettes ($5) in Target stores.

It was the email that ELF sent that had me searching for these bargain gems.

Unfortunately the newest Beauty Books (pic above) were a little damaged, each one :( so sad, so I'll be doing some driving around to find them this weekend!

So top picture is of the 'Little Black Beautybook' which flips open and consists of 28 shadows and 20 lip colors, 1 mirror and a dual applicator. I selected the cool collection as it had more colors suitable for the spring and summer time. The other available LBBB, the warm collection, would best be suited for the fall and winter time. All shadows are made splendid, each one staying true to color, doesn't fade, and is good in pigmentation.

Quality of lip colors are amazing with a wide range of consistency and finishes to name a few; shimmery, creme, sheer, and high-gloss.

Just for giggles:

My son decided to create a Makeup Abstract Shrine - thinga-majig :D......... He did an interesting job! Notice how I placed 2 gold crowns on the MAC lipsticks lol

Have a great weekend everyone!

We love Hello Kitty....and shopping!

I made the choice to collect Hello Kitty memorabilia for my little one....Last week I started with her 1 year birthday party. Let me just say that I am one very tired momma! One Hello Kitty themed party for my baby, a b-day dinner for my husband and in between all that managed to do a little shopping :)

I hope everyone is enjoying this springtime....I thought I'd share some pics taken from baby's party....

I've always kinda been the crafty one, so I made these candle holders for the party after a friend of mine designed some last Thanksgiving...Loved the way they came out!

Her birthday outfit consisted of a personalized embroidered onesie and matching bloomers. I ended up buying her the tutu after I had seen them on Etsy...It is so cute! We are taking her to the studio this weekend to take her official 1 year old pics and she will be wearing this outfit :)

And of course the cake, which had to be done in Hello Kitty, which was also the theme of the party :)

Homemade cupcakes

Her Hello Kitty Easter Basket!

During my 'skincare' kick (which I am still on!) I did a little makeup shopping....I received a tiny sample of Sephora's Plumping lash mascara and after using it a few days I absolutely loved it so I ended up buying the full-size version. At my most recent trip to the CCO I picked up Clinique's glossy mascara....I love the brush on this mascara! And I also wanted to try out NYC's new line of mascara.........this one is the high-definition/volumizing one.

Another trip to Dollar Tree! And I just wanted to mention that Dollar Tree now has ELF's Studio line single eyeshadows!

They have a variety of about 7 colors to choose from, I know these are regularly $3 each so for only $1 these are a steal, especially if you are one that loves these!

Ok, so back to the haulage. I picked up some of Maybelline's Wet shine and Revitalizing polishes. Loreal Hip lip glosses are available at Dollar Tree too....I picked up Enticing-which is a rich true red. They had some other nice colors but were too close or matched some colors I already own.

Wet n Wild spring collection of polishes came out so I picked up 2 out of the 6 they had. I got Laughing Lilac and Birdbath. The Laughing Lilac is actually a very nice color. I wouldn't call it a dupe for MAC's Love and Friendship or Essie's Lilacism....this color doesn't even come close....It is beautiful and probably one of the most nicest lilac pink colors I have seen. The Birdbath polish doesn't come close at all to China Glaze's For Audrey. Birdbath is a very nice bright sky blue creme.

If you visit me at my home you'd be curious to know why I own every season DVD set of the show Everybody Loves Raymond....Only one reason I collect them is because I really adore the show! So naturally it's expected that I pick up Wet N Wild's newest red polish in the fast dry line called Everybody Loves Redmond. So the name is a bit cheesy but I couldn't help it :) Once in a good while my local grocery store puts out coupons for makeup so I picked up Wet n Wild lipstick in Stoplight Red and my favorite Rimmel lippie in Vintage Pink. I was hesitant to order ELF online but quickly emptied my shopping cart when I noticed Target had the items I was looking for! I picked up the blush Fuchsia Fusion which I have been wearing almost everyday. Went to Sally's to get some nail files and got a lipgloss and some other things. The Purple Rite lipstick I picked up from the CCO.

On a trip to CVS I picked up Sally Hansen's polish in Night Flight and a Covergirl Liquiline Blast eyeliner in black. I got a backup of my favorite LA Colors eyeshadow palette in Traditional from Dollar Tree and a cute doggie pencil sharpener and Hello Kitty body glitter came from my local grocery store. On the same trip to Sephora I picked up Sephora's blending eye brush in #29.

I've been getting into colored eye contacts most recently, I know....what's up with that? I just find them so pretty, especially with smoky eyes and different colors of eyeshadows that bring out the eye color....but anywho, while I was buying contacts I picked up some eyelashes!

And here is what I picked up from Sally's. I needed a 4 way nail file block and some nail files and I picked up Pucker Ups lip balm in Coconut which happens to smell exactly like a Coconut snowcone! yummmmmmm

I also got a Skin Renewal Toner which is now my holy grail of skin toners and will do a review on it very soon....loooooove it!