ELF Polish Review

I think ELF is a great company. I truly do. I have many ELF products that I use frequently and have even repurchased some of their products. One thing I love is nail polish. So, are the ELF nail polishes any good?

ELF Polish in Fair Pink

Price: 5 out of 5; It's only one dollar!
Packaging: 3/5; The bottle is deceiving. There is only .35 oz. Notice in the photos the large amount of glass on the bottom of the bottle. Also, you should be able to pull off the cap of the handle, but you can't, so you have to work with a big bulky handle.
Performance: 1 out of 5; Seriously. Seriously. It should not take more than 4 coats for opacity unless you're using, say, a glitter. See photos below.



Overall: 1.5 out of 5; I would not purchase again. I might not even take if for free, except I can franken with it.

I saved this by applying two coats of Orly Pearl wisdom over the ELF Fair Pink to give a bit of shimmer.

ELF Polish in Fluorescent Pink

Price and Packaging: same as above
Performance: 2 out of 5; You can kind of see it in the photo below, but this polish has separated. There are streaks of white in the polish. WTF? However, It applies well. 3 coats for opacity.
Overall: 2.5 out of 5; There are better pink polishes out there. This is nothing special. However, it is only $1.

ELF Polish in Pearl

Price and Packaging: same as above
Performance: 4 out of 5; This was opaque in two coats! FINALLY. (Sorry for messy pix).
Overall: 4 out of 5; I would purchase this again. I like the pearly shade, and well, it's only $1!!!



Overall: I do not generally recommend ELF polishes, but I think with the pearlescent colors, you might find something you like. When I have more cash, I'm going to pick up some more of their pearly colors, and maybe a darker color, and see how those work out.

Starbucks Napkins Review

Starbucks Napkins???? I thought this was a makeup blog!

Well, it is. And this IS a beauty product.

I think most of us suffer from a bit of the oilies later in the day. It sucks. You can use blotting sheets or powder to try and get rid of the shine. I usually use powder, because it's conveinient, but I prefer not to have to put more product on. So, blotting sheets. Well, I had heard from Makeup Alley that you could use Starbucks Napkins as blotting sheets. Whaaat??? See, the word on the street is that these type of napkins are excellent at wicking off moisture. I'm not sure why; it has something to do with the napkins being made from recyclable materials.

Price: 5 out of 5; It's FREE. Plus an excuse to pick up some coffee!
Packaging: N/a; it's non-existent
Performance: 5 out of 5; It really works!!
Overall: 5 out of 5; What's not to like?

When at Starbucks (don't take them if you're not buying something, dudes) I grabbed some napkins. I took them home and cut them into the little squares you see in the pix. No need to use a whole napkin every time! Seriously, what's not to like? It is free and it really works. Plus, it's made of recycled materials. So, you should check it out. And get a White Chocolate Mocha. Mmmmm....

Note: I have heard that any brown napkins will work, but not so. At least, not for me.

EWWWWWWWWWW

This is at 10PM!!!! Seriously.

NOTD Thursday March 26 2009

I was super busy working on homework on Thursday, but my nails were calling! I didn't have a lot of time to do them, so I just swiped one coat NYC Big Apple Red over the coral pink I was wearing. Result: red with a pink flash! Cool!

FOTD: Thursday March 26 2009

Today was a mineral kind of day, and I'm enjoying. I used mineral makeup for foundation, blusher, and shadow. I'll go into that later. Today's look is a bit more subtle than I usually go for. I concentrated more on getting a good coverage with my concealer and foundation, less on using color. Personally, I think I look hot. A friend of mine has told me that it looks very good.

"The subtlety let's your face shine through. Instead of
the focus being on the bright colors, the focus is on you."

Aww :-)

Products used

Eyes: Mary Kay Signature Eye Primer (not pictured; d/c);
Fresh Minerals Shadow in Shell and Copper; (d/c)
Maybelline Volum' Express Turbo Boost Mascara in Very Black;
Cover Girl Outlast Smoothwear All-Day Eyeliner in Onyx

Face: A self-made mixture of Everydays Mineral Olive Fair and
Coastal Scents Silk Medium 1.2 Foundations (even parts of each);
Everyday Minerals Sunlight Concealer;
Amuse Sheer Mineral Blush Shimmer in Coral Pink (d/c)
(Also, that's the Coastal Scents Kabuki Brush. Too cute!)

.

Lips: Lorac Lipstick in Imagine

Face:
Apply mineral foundation: tap a little foundation into a dish for some sort. Dip brush into powder, swirl it around, tap off excess. Buff into skin (I use CS Deluxe Buffer Brush). Apply small amounts of EM Sunlight Concealer to under eye area (if you have dark areas). Use small amounts until you get desired coverage. You can always add more! Can't always take it off without starting all over. Afterward, pick up just a bit of your foundation and buff it softly over where you concealed. Using kabuki, apply blush to cheeks. (I apply brush after doing eyes).

Eyes:
After priming, apply FM Shell all over lid. Pick up a little of the copper (a little goes a long way with this color). Apply to the crease and blend in. Apply in crease until you reach desired color. I wanted it in the crease and a little in the outer 1/2. Line upper lash line, water line, and outer 1/2 lower lash line. I'm not very good, so I ran an angle brush along the line to soften it some. Pick up some copper with angle brush and line lower lash line. Curl lashes and apply mascara.

Closer:

Also, I've been using Ardell Brow and Lash Growth Accelerator on my lashes recently. I'll update you on how that goes.

Notes about mineral makeup:
Although the market has recently been flooded with this type of foundation, it is important for the consumer to be aware that there are no standards or guidelines for labeling this product. A "mineral makeup" may be all mineral, part mineral - or contain less than 1% mineral as part of the finished formula. Using this logic, practically all makeup could be considered mineral. Additionally, mineral makeup may or may not be USDA organic; the label must specifically mention this, as it is possible to make a mineral product that does not meet USDA guidelines.
source: Wiki Foundation Page

TOTD?

Toenails of the day? Hehehe. It would never be OTD, anyway. It'd be OTW, at least.
I just saw someone post pix of their tootsies, so I thought I would, too. Tell me if you think feet are gross or not. If you do, then I won't do pix of my pedis.


Today, I used two coats of NYC Times Square Tangerine and two coats of this sheer iridescent orange neon from Claire's. (Came in a set of 5.) These neons dry matte; if you're not fond of that, you can throw a top coat over it. These pix are w/o top coat.

Also, tell me which type of pic you like better. The 2nd and 3rd pic are b/c I saw some pics of someones feet like that when they were showing their pedi off, and I thought it was cute, but maybe I'm dumb and everyone else in the world thinks a pic like that is lame.

Follow Me On Twitter!

Taken from Tiffasaurus!

Do you twitter? Since I started twittering, I have people following me that I've never met. Some of these are random, I'm sure.

If you follow me on twitter, send me an @reply or a DM to let me know that you're one of my readers and not a total stranger. I'll totally follow you back. ^_^

NOTD: Wednesday March 25 2009

The other day, I went to the Dollar Tree and picked up a couple things, including a pack of three 6mL nail polishes. This is one of them. Its coral with a pink shimmer. Very pretty.

Lip Pics

As we all know, I've been working on getting decent pics of my lips to include with the FOTDs. These are one's I took yesterday. I'm wearing NYX Round Lipstick in Femme and Maybelline Shiny-licious in Coral Punch. Exactly matches my nails today, btw. These are actually excellent pix. You can see the colors really well, even the gold shimmer in the lips! So, tell me which pic you like best.

FOTD: Monday March 23 2009

This is a very pink eye look. Lotsa fun. :-)

Products used:

Cheeks: I used the Physician's Formula Mosaic Bronzer for contour, ELF Blusher in Shy for a highlight, and ELF Blusher in Glow as blush.
Eyeshadow: I primed with the Physician's Formula Virtual Eyes (review here). LA Colors palette in Serenade. I used the 2nd color on the inner 1/2, the 4th color on the outer 1/2, the 5th color in my outer V and crease. In ELF quad in Luxe, I used the gold color as a highlight and in the tear duct area.
Foundation: Almay Pure Blends Mineral Makeup in 400
Mascara: Maybelline XXL in Black
Lips: L'Oreal Glam Shine in Diva





My hair looks a little bizzaro in this pic but, oh well.

NOTD: Monday March 23 2009

Photo from Sandbox World

These pix don't really do this justice. If Strawberry Shortcake** wore nail polish, it would look like this. I applied two coats of Sally Hansen Sheer Strawberry and one coat of Sinful Colors White Diamond.


These pix make it look a lot more sheer than it was. The flash really bring that out. It was sheer, but not as sheer. It looked like pink shimmery icing or something. That's what made me think of Strawberry Shortcake, but it's a very princessy color, too.

Photo from Cakes By Yvonne

Also, let me know what you think of the watermarks. I'm still trying to work out what I like. Do you think it covers up the colors too much?

**BTW, that is the new, revamped Strawberry Shortcake, up there. She's got a makeover last year. And it's not just looks:

Strawberry Shortcake was having an identity crisis. The “it” doll and cartoon star of the 1980s was just not connecting with modern girls. Too candy-obsessed. Too ditzy. Too fond of wearing bloomers.So her owner, American Greetings Properties, worked for a year on what it calls a “fruit-forward” makeover. Strawberry Shortcake, part of a line of scented dolls, now prefers fresh fruit to gumdrops, appears to wear just a dab of lipstick (but no rouge), and spends her time chatting on a cellphone instead of brushing her calico cat, Custard.

Next thing you know she'll be teaming up with a high-end cosmetics company. (See the MAC Hello Kitty Collection, Two-Faced Smurfette Collection, and Barbie. Wooo, Barbie is a makeup slut. But, no surprises there. Nor complaints. Just sayin'.) They are also revamping the CareBears to give them longer lashes and less belly fat. WTF. See Fictional Stars Get 21st Century Facelift.

Physician's Formula Virtual Eyes

A while ago, a long while ago actually, I purchased Physician's Formula Virtual Eyes from Dollar Tree. I had no idea what it was, but I recognized the brand. I had never had a negative experience with PF products and, well, it was only $1.


I just opened it yesterday. Yeah, I know. I can't believe it either. Anyway, it's got a little brush and the color is a cool iridescent purple. To apply it, I sweep a little across my lid and then pat my lid, making sure there is an even coverage and that it's not too thick. It dries a bit tacky.

w/ flash

w/o flash

I really thought it would crease immediately. Or within an hour. So, I did a quick makeup look while hanging out in my room. I applied the PF Virtual Eyes all over my lid and on the lower lash line, too. I did a quick makeup look using a pink and a dark gray shade from the shadows below.

I was surprised to find that, after two hours, it hadn't creased. I mean, that's no big deal for a real primer, but I didn't think that this THIS discontinued product that I bought at the Dollar Tree would do anything at all. Well, I'll wear it all day tomorrow, I decided.

At the end of the day -- I've been wearing my makeup for about 10 hours now (10 am to 8 pm), there is NO CREASING!!! HOLY CRAP. None at all. It looks like I just applied my makeup.