ELF Launches New Site

ELF has finally updated their website. Not that it didn't do the job, but it is much nicer now. Much sleeker and easier to navigate. Props to ELF.

The only major issue I see is that you can't actually find the new Studio Line concealer. It's on the main page but you can't actually buy it? Hmmm...

In unrelated news, I have been attacked by something resembling a head cold so I apologize for the lack of posts.

Question: Color Limits

Do you have any colors that you won't wear out of the house? That you may apply for fun but then blot down to a stain or off entirely?

For me it is 'true' reds. I say true, because I'll wear deep berries out of the house no problem but once you get a red on me, I always feel it's a bit 'too much'. I also am very hesitant to wear anything that remotely looks fuschia out of the house (including brighter pinks). It's not unusual for certain colors to turn on me since my lips are pigmented and fuschia screams 80s to me in a bad way!

Review: Isqueen Hydra-Shining Lip Treatment

Second to last item from my Sasa haul: Isqueen Hydra-Shining Lip Treatment SPF 10: with Vitamin C, E, and Honey. Is it just me, or do a lot of these items have the longest names ever? Anyway, this I got for only $3.10 USD - I think it was on sale or clearanced or something.

The main reason I chose to purchase this over other lip items which Sasa has an enormous amount of was the SPF. Actually, upon ordering I realized that this had honey in the ingredients and that got me a bit worried hence the delayed review. I've had the unfortunate experience of dealing with items that have honey in the ingredients list and they smell like... for lack of better terms - pee.

Isqueen's Lip Treatment is 15 grams of product which is quite substantial (about .5oz). It comes in an adorable squeeze tube with a floral design on it and is fitly yellow colored.

It has a slant tube applicator which is always appreciated!

The product is fairly clear; well slightly yellow but nothing that shows up on your lips. The consistency is that of a slighter thicker vaseline; there's quite a bit of slip to the product. I'm quite happy to report that it doesn't smell like a bathroom and instead like sugared honey. It reminds me of those honey straws that I used to have as a kid.

picture from amazon

In any case, it's a very pleasant aroma. It's a fairly moisturizing formula and feels nice between the lips. Basically a nice lipbalm that smells like honey. Another item I'm glad I picked up.

I Found Sales!

Ok, while I love my alternative work schedule (I work 4-9 hour days and get every other Monday off), it's not going to be good for my wallet. So, not only did another CVS near me have the enormous sale everybody was talking about, but ULTA had a bunch of stuff on clearance...

As for CVS, the following was on sale: practically all the PF Organic Line; quite a bit of Rimmel - gloss, eyeshadow, blush, foundations, a couple of mascaras; a few L'Oreal colour juices, all the HIP paints and a lone eyeshadow, a few of the regular line lipsticks; Maybelline nail polish; a few Milani nail polish and "old" eyeshadow quads; Sally Hansen lipglosses and a few lines of nailpolish; Almay select Natural eyeshadow/gloss; Revlon select matte eyeshadow (be careful with these cause some marked ones were ringing up full price)... Most everything was 75% off cept for the Sally Hansen and the Maybelline. I may have missed some because I only bought things that were 75% off since I'm cheap like that. I spent $25 after coupons which I'm happy with. I could have done a lot worse!

And then at ULTA. Oh my. Someone remind me that I don't need all this nail polish? I mean, yes I have much more eyeshadow than nail polish and oh, it's pretty and yes I got an excellent price on it all, but I'm going to go ahead and blame all the nail blogs for being oh-so-pretty. Ack!

So, here we have:

~OPI Shim-Merry Chic $3.99

~OPI All A-Bordeaux The Sled! $3.99

~China Glaze Raspberry Festival $3.99

~China Glaze Its Poppin' $3.99

~China Glaze Thunderbird $3.99

~China Glaze Drive In $3.99

~China Glaze Far Out $3.99

~Piggy Polish Duo Toe Many Parties $5.99

~Piggy Polish Duo Toe Scary $2.99

A bunch of Bourjois on clearance. I was actually nervous that they were DC-ing the line since it's currently one of the only places you can still get the brand stateside, but they are just getting rid of some colors:
~Ombre Stretch Vert #5, Intense Black #1, Maxi Blanc #2
~eyeshadow in #25 Argent
~blush in #35 Lune D'Or

And finally, 2 Montagne Jennesse masks that were on clearance for 89 cents (these are sheet masks and I'm excited to try them!):

So there you go. I'm not allowed in a beauty store for the next few weeks. Oh, who am I kidding?

Review: Revlon Color Burst Lipsticks

After Nouveau Cheap reviewed these, I had to pick them up. Especially after she discovered that Soft Rose was a dupe for NARS Dolce Vita. Don't believe me? Look! Well, I didn't need much more convincing; off I was to my happy little CVS to pick these up BOGO!

I picked up 2: Soft Rose #40 & Plum #10

 

Both are the creme formula, which is great since I'm not a huge fan of glitter in my lip products. They look very similar in this picture, but Plum is significantly darker and cooler than Soft Rose. I'm going to have to give Revlon props on this lipstick; a) The packaging is adorable and they come sealed so that cuts down on the tampering that we all know we get at our local drugstores; b) They made these look luxe - notice the small Revlon engraving on the lipstick...

And c) No offensive smell or taste! Yay Revlon!

 

Swatches: Plum on the left followed by Soft Rose. These are a couple of swipes back and forth on my ghostly pale hand (see why I shy away from natural light? Now you know!). I can see these going on as a sheer swipe of color (which I prefer) or built up to more opaque coverage.

All in all, for $8.99 or $4.50 on sale, these are definitely something I'd pick up. The only issue is you have no idea what the colors look like since you can't see them through the tube (since it's completely opaque). Thankfully most US drugstores have generous return policies in case the colors don't suit you.

CVS Sales

Everyone is a buzz regarding the CVS Beauty Sale. Apparently, at every location except for mine, CVS has marked down beauty products significantly - we're talking 50-75%! Even though they mentioned this in my Sunday circular, I went today and no sales whatsoever. I'm going to stop by a different location tomorrow to see if it's any different there and I'll report any findings. Either way, if you have a CVS near you, it's definitely worth a trip to see if there are any neon green or pink stickers about.

The Body Shop Haul & Review

It's The Body Shop's semi-annual sale time - actually it's been going on for about a week - which means they put their seasonal makeup on a very steep discount and it also means that I pick up everything I've been lusting after for the past year or so. See, unlike other stores and makeup companies, The Body Shop makes Limited Edition collections that almost always come back for sales. There's no great need to stock up when it's full priced.

I am a huge fan of The Body Shop makeup, though I can't wear their base products as they tend to be quite warm. I have been wearing their makeup since I was 12 back before they revamped the packaging. Back then everything was matte and black and looked a whole lot less modern. And for a 12-year old's budget, the only time I was able to buy it was during semi-annual sale time.

Anyway, this year they again have their makeup 3 for $10 which puts it at even less than the drugstore range. Most of the seasonal makeup goes fast, but there's still a few products on their sale page if you're quick (they also tend to have more stock in store if you have one close by).

I picked up a few things I've had my eyes on:

These items are either from the Precious Pearlescent's (Fall) or the Hot Brights (Summer) Collections; there's also 1 regular line eye kohl that I picked up that looks like it may very well be a dupe for Clinique Egyptian though I haven't swatched them side by side yet.

Can you imagine everything above cost me $27 (including the Love Your Body Discount)? This is why I don't buy the collections when they launch. Blushes usually run around $24 and eyeshadows at $17; 3/$10 is way more bang for your buck!

These are items from the Precious Pearlescents Collection from Fall 2009 (aside from the eyeliner). As you can see, The Body Shop hopped onto the baked product bandwagon. We have the baked blush in cool dusk, and the 2 eyeshadow trios Moonlight Lustre & Sundown Glow (there was also another blush that was warmer).

And then some items from the Hot Brights Summer Collection. The Body Shop really went all out for the packaging of this one. It is gorgeous!

 

The individual compacts each have some sort of textured paper with designs of flowers on them and those are encased in a very sturdy clear plastic cover. Each compact is a duo (larger is blush and smaller is eyeshadow). While the baked line is sold out online, these are still available so grab them quick!

The blush is #1 (the cool one; there is also a warmed one; sense a theme?), and the two eyeshadow duos; #1 & #2.

Now, the eyeliners. I actually swatched these all even though I barely grabbed the last bit of natural light. Yes, all of these photos were taken in natural light. Aren't you proud?

The Hot Brights eyeliners are duos of similar colors. One end is a smidge lighter with silver glitter and the other side has a bit of a metallic sheen (though it's hard to see in the above photo). These are slightly waxy pencils and do not go on as pigmented by the first swipe, but they are buildable and they stay fairly well at least on my hand after rubbing them. These aren't my favorite formula but they were super inexpensive and they are fun colors. I'm hoping the olive will be a nice color for my waterline. I don't think I would have picked them up for the original price of $13, but for $3.33 I'm a bit more inclined.

 

Have you bought anything from The Body Shop's Semi-Annual sale this year?

Tarte Haul & Review

I posted a few weeks ago regarding the new Tarte empty refillable palettes which would in theory help with transporting Tarte shadows (until now, they've done single/duo shadows and very bulky palettes). I ordered 3 pairs: 3 individual palettes and 3 Verve blushes (each are currently $1 and with the 40% FF discount, why not?). Well, they arrived and I've gotten the proper time to play around with them.

The palette is a 2-sided faux brushed purple suede. It's slightly bigger than the palm of my hand so quite a bit smaller than practically any of the other palettes Tarte has put out.

One side for blush...

And one side for eyeshadow...

I'm not quite sure what I was expecting with the price. I guess I wasn't expecting that the edges of the palette which hold the shadows not be glued down or not made so straggly? I think I assumed the $1 pricetag was so low to get the word out, not that the palette itself was only worth $1. I'm a huge Tarte fan, but I would have been happier with something a little more expensive but that looked and performed better. Anyway... onto the blush.

 

It's HUGE! Here it is next to all my Tarte singles in their current home, a Yaby Freestyle Palette (love these) and below 4 full sized Tarte eyeshadows. Yup. It's 4x the size of a shadow. It's a peachy pink mostly matte shade, though there appears to be some very fine gold shimmer throughout. Very very pigmented and creamy and a super deal for $1.

This was taken in natural light!

Ok, so the blush is awesome. It fits well in the palette but it's incredibly hard to get it in without covering your fingers and the brushed suede (which picks up eyeshadow/blush powder so easily, almost too easily in fact) in powder.

And getting the eyeshadows into the palette. Not fun. I mean, let me remind you what we're working with.

Those uncut edges make inserting an eyeshadow a huge hassle. In fact, eventually, I gave up, and starting trimming them myself! The eyeshadow doesn't fit in the hole without some extra force, as I said, unless you want to cover your fingers in powder, you are going to need something flat to push them in. I chose a pair of scissors.

 

Enormous pain.

Here are all 4 of them. Can you tell they aren't even and can you see the nicks around the edges from trying to force the eyeshadows into the palette? And of course once you take them out...

Eyeshadow dust.

As much as I love the idea of carting my Tarte around in these quads, they just don't work. I'll take the sturdy Yaby freestyle palettes (which are significantly more expensive but a lot easier to deal with) anytime over these. I really hope Tarte looks at these again and possibly considers charging more to bring a better product. I might try to salvage them (trim and glue down the edges) only because I do like the idea of carrying around a quad and a blush for travel.

My Foundation Shades

Aside from jokes about my likeliness to white sheets, I haven't done a proper post regarding my foundation shades. My biggest issues when looking for foundations is finding something pale and pink enough and also finding something that doesn't break me out or irritate my skin. I'm not including all of the foundation that I own because I am so keen on finishing one or two of these bottles before cracking open another.

These are the 3 liquid foundations that I currently have in rotation:

• Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet + #15 $34/1oz
  
• Prescriptives Custom Mixed Foundation $65 (this is both lighter and less yellow than their lightest pre-mixed shade) - this is the mini that I usually decant from the big bottle to keep it out of humidity/sunlight
• Exuviance Skin Caring Foundation SPF 15 in Ivory $32/1oz

There is actually a pretty funny story with the Exuviance. When I started working at ULTA I told my boss that I couldn't find a foundation in the store that matched me. So we basically went on a wild goose chase around the 'prestige' area trying to find one. Most were either too dark or too yellow. Finally, we found the Exuviance area that is hidden in the skincare section. He had never heard of the brand before himself but it was the only color in the store that matched me (that's not completely true, I can also wear Bare Escentuals Fair and Studio Gear Tinted Moisturizer in Fair).

l-r: MUFE, Px, Exuviance

My favorite is definitely the custom mixed Prescriptives one (I am so sad the line is shutting down). During the winter, this is definitely preferred since there is extra moisturizer in the formula and of course it is a perfect match. The MUFE and the Exuviance are both significantly more matte and I need to moisturize a great deal before application or else they are dry and cakey looking. They are definitely better Summer foundations since they do not budge either once set. Just a note: the Exuviance looks a lot pinker swatched then it does on my skin. I don't know if it self adjusts or what, because it's very similar to the other two shades once sheered out.

I'd like to thank Pink Sith for turning me on to the MUFE. She actually RAOK-ed me my first bottle!

Intro To Beauty Blog Link Love

Beauty Blog Link Love (or BBLL for short) is officially on-air today with this Link Love post. We're a new community of -- obviously -- beauty bloggers, and we're committed to bringing you the best and brightest stars of the beauty blog world twice each month! Don't worry; this won't affect the posts on any of the blogs that you're reading, but what it will do is form a casual, contract-free environment for bloggers to share posts that they're proud of, which means that you'll get easy access to the best reading material possible.

Today we'd just like to introduce all of our lovely members so far, so stick with us! If you're interested in joining BBLL as well, you can find out more here. Now, onto the bloggers:

...Adina, the voice behind KraseyBeauty, a blog for all things beautiful in New York City,
...Amy, the beauty addict & product junkie who posts a collection of swatches and reviews on Yoetke Beauty Blog,
...Arianne, who loves all things beautiful (from makeup to geekery that may sometimes involve kitties) is the gorgeous gal-with-brains behind Glitter Geek,
...BeautyjunkieLondon, who is, well, a London-based beauty obsessive who has found an outlet for all things wonderfully girly and shallow,
...Caz, a UK beauty blogger and newly found Lush addict at thisiscaz,
...Eve, who writes xLovelyMakeupx and loves anything fashion and makeup,
...The Jeweled Thumb, the mind behind a variety of reviews, deals & steals and of course - finger swatches,
...Kelly, the Jellyminx Thinks blogger,
...LiAnn, of Sparklecrack Central, who is hooked on makeup though she didn't wear it regularly until she was nearly 40,
...Lipglossiping, a girl with too many lipsticks (and a blog about them,)
...Lisa Kate of Sparkle is my Crack! who happens to be obsessed with glitter, guinea pigs and winking cupcake tattoos!
...Louise, the blogger behind Get Lippie,
...Maggie, who writes The Polka-Dotted Apple,
...Sara, a Bay Area beauty blogger who documents her cosmetic obsession at The Makeup Snob.com,
...Sarah, the shopaholic behind the reviews, hauls and hair drama at  I Heart Cosmetics,
...Stephanie, the makeup artist from LA blogging about makeup and fashion at Aquahearts Makeup Obsession,
...Vex, with Vex in the City,
And, finally, the editor of BBLL (Rae,) who also writes theNotice: a beauty blog, which she fills with reviews, swatches, FOTDS, and a side of snark.

That's all for now! Thanks for reading, and we at BBLL hope that you can find some new favourite blogs out of this Link Love post. We'll see you in two weeks with links to specific posts that we think you'll love -- until then, stay beautiful! 

JT's brief editorial comment: Many of these blogs are already ones that I love, so do check them out of you haven't done so already!