Elf Lip Shines Give Good Gloss

A couple of weeks ago ELF ran a 60% sale, and I was rather exuberant in taking part in this offer. I bought a lot of eyeshadows and lipglosses, reviews of which will be coming up over the next week. The first products that I'll be taking a look at are the Super Glossy Lip Shine SPF15.

For those unfamiliar with ELF, they are a drugstore / budget brand whose products are frequently versions of various high-end brands. The Super Glossy Lip Shine can most easily be compared to Lancome's Juicy Tubes. However, in the 10 years that Juicy Tubes have been on the market, multitides companies have brought out their own version, so I'm not going to get too worked up on the comparison here.

They come in a clear squeezy tube with an angled top for application, and packaging wise, it's fine. Nothing amazing, nothing terrible. I picked out 4 colors: Candlelight (a shimmery peach), Watermelon (a shimmery deep pink), Honey Do (a reddish coral jelly),  and Juiced Berry (a pink jelly). All of the glosses have a grape vanilla scent, which I found incredibly sweet and cloying unfortunately. They do have a slight stickiness to them, but they are not as sticky as MAC's Lipglasses. I found I got about 2-3 hours wear from these. They also have SPF 15 which is a nice extra.

Left to Right - Juiced Berry, Honey Do, Watermelon, Candlelight

Juiced Berry had the least color of the 4. As you can see from the swatch, there is barely any pigmentation, and it just showed up as a clear gloss on my lips.

Honey Do gave my lips a slightly rosier color, along with the high shine gloss.

Watermelon was my favorite of the bunch. It gave my lips a pink, slightly shimmery gloss. The shimmer was pretty subtle, and really just enhanced the shine more than anything else.

Candlelight was the most problematic of the 4. I had a hard time getting it to go on evenly for a start. Once I had a good application, the color sheered way down leaving a slightly shimmery, sheer, frosty finish, which was actually quite pretty. It didn't seem to give off as much shiny gloss as the others, perhapy because the shimmer is so high.

So, whats the final verdict on these? I actually like them. I think that at a $1 a go, having a couple of these in your purse is great. They don't have a lot of color to them, so if that's what you are looking for in a gloss you will be disappointed. For me they do pretty much what I'd expect, and I like them for it.

Summer Lip Favorites Part 4

The final installment!!! And really, my absolute favorites - my glossy gold and corals. These colors lift up anyone's face and really make for the most perfect summer look.

From right to left: Liberated, Silly Girl, Gold Dust, Flurry of Fun Kumquat, Perennial High Style

1. Liberated came out in last summer's Style Warriors. It's a sheer yellow. It might look a little scary in the tube, but it acts more like a neutral on pigmented lips, providing a gorgeous, bright glow.

2. Silly Girl came as part of the Holiday 2009 sets. It's a classic bright coral with shimmer. It's quite sheer, so can either be worn alone or layered with other colors.

3. Gold Dust is from Spring Color Forecast. TRACK THIS COLOR DOWN!! Oh, I love it! It is a gorgeous rich gold, making my lips so golden and rich. Luscious.

4. Flurry of Fun is from To The Beach. It's a similar color to Silly Girl, but the glitter is much bigger, brighter, sparklier, and also a contrasting blue/purple in tone. A fun summer color. Not one for the board room.

5. Kumquat is a rich, pigmented bright coral gloss. It has some shimmer, but it's main feature is packing a coral punch. Bright and gorgeous.

6. Perennial High Style is really more pink than coral. It's an amazingly flattering shade, and so simple to wear. This is a simple, no fail look. It's a color that I never need to think about when I put it on - it just works, ya know?

So, there we have. 21 glosses and lipsticks later, my entire summer lips collection. I'm sure I left one of your favorites out! Hit me up in the comments and let me know what you think.

Summer Lip Favorites Part 2

Yesterday I showed you some of my favorite bright lip colors. Now I'm showcasing my softer pinks. I get that these pinks might usually be more associated with Spring, but sometimes I just want something light and sheer and pretty in summer, and these are my go-to grabs for those days.

So, from left to right we have Elf Lip Shine in Pink Kiss, MAC Dazzleglass in Perfectly Unordinary, and MAC Lip Glass in Virgin Kiss.

1. Elf Lip Shine in Pink Kiss - this lipgloss feels slightly tacky and has a sweet scent. It's a sheer, slightly milky pink with silver shimmer. At only a buck, I think that this gloss is a great deal, as it's the sort of color everyone needs at least one of.

2. MAC Dazzleglass in Perfectly Unordinary - gorgeously pretty pink, gold sparkly shimmer - what is there not to love? Apart from MAC do come out with this shade ALL THE TIME!!! It does have a slightly gritty feel to it which isn't wonderful, but it's worth it for the pretty pretty shine.

3. MAC Lip Glass in Virgin Kiss - this came out in the Rose Romance collection last summer. Confession - I wore this at my wedding, so it will always have a special place in my heart. Apart from that, I think it's a gorgeous, cool, shimmery, baby pink. Again, a classic that's always going to make you feel pretty.

Any simple, pretty pinks I've left out or should try?

Summer Lip Favorites Part 1

Summer is probably my favorite season for lip products. I just love love love the bright colors bringing to mind raspberry popsicles and orange soda. I’m a big fan of sheer, jelly style colors which are easy to wear – slick and go! For evenings, some gold shimmer can kick up a look to summer goddess. Cosmetics companies this year have really raised their game in terms of corals, golds, and bright pinks for us lucky girls to play around with. I really like a shiny, summery lip with neutral eyes. Keeping the cheeks bright in the same family can be fun, or neutral with a touch of bronzer to bring out your natural glow.

I'm going to do a couple of posts about my favorite colors. This was originally one post until I realized that I'm a summer gloss junkie and have faaar too many for just 1!!!

I'm going to work from left to right here to talk about each product.

 

1. Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess – a yummy jelly, thick raspberry gloss. It has a slight blue shimmer to it as well. There’s something about it which does make me feel all goddess-like. Until I realize that I’ve spilt my ice cream down my shirt.
2. Tarte Amused Lip Stain – a jumbo pencil that moisturizes (although not quite as much as Tarte claims!!), smells deliciously pepperminty, and makes you look like you’ve spent the afternoon eating raspberry popsicles is a summer must have. If I’m running out the door and have no make-up on, this is my go-to single product. Yum yum yumminess.
3. MAC  Lipglass in Totally It - I got this as part of the Holiday 2009 lipgloss sets. I have seen these in CCOs recently actually. This color is a shout it out gorgeous bright pink, very similar in color to Tarte's Amused Lip Stain.
4. MAC Lipglass in Hush Hush Rose - a pretty, bright, coolish, pink with gold shimmer. It is actually quite pigmented for a gloss. I wear it alone for a pop of pretty shine. Unfortunately, it's a limited edition from this year's Spring Color Forecast. 
5. Stila Lip Glaze in Raspberry - this is one of my oldest products!!! I've had this for years. (Wait, I shouldn't tell you that, should I? I should have tidied everything out and all that. Ooops). It's a perfect sheer summer fuchsia. It is quite sticky, but I do love the twist packaging. 
6. Cover Girl Wet Slicks in Raspberry Splash - can you sense that I will buy ANYTHING if it has the world raspberry in the title? Really. I bought this on a total whim in Miami when all my bags were lost. It is almost clear, but it snuck in here because the packaging makes it look much more pigmented. It has a pleasant scent and a little bit of a minty kick. A cheap thrill, if you will. 
7. MAC Lip Gelee in Lush & Bright - this is not a subtle product!!! This is more over the top shiny glittery, shimmery FUN!!! It came out in the Lily Pulitzer collection, which so should have been a summer collection, but whatever. I don't wear this super often, because the glitter in it can be a bit overkill, but it is fun. Think poolside with heels, ya know? That kind of trashy but fun.

What are your favorite summer lip colors? Are you a sucker for anything raspberry or coral?

Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Lip Gloss

The last week in NYC has seen highs in the 90s and lows in the 50s - schizophrenic weather much? Still, there's nothing like a bit of summer gloss to put me in a better mood, and Estee Lauder's Bronze Goddess lip gloss in Wild Orchid is just the thing. It's a bright fushcia, but sheer enough to be pretty, not wild. It is slightly sticky, but not enough to be tacky, and has a sweet flavor. I love it.

MAC Liberty of London Review and Haul

MAC’s Liberty of London collection is the collection I have been most excited about since Style Black in September. I’m a Brit expat living in New York, and anything British makes me feel all nostalgic and homesick, and the iconic Liberty print is just one of the most British things possible, so as soon as it was announced, my little heart started racing.

The first, and most obvious thing to talk about is the amazing packaging. It is based on a decades old Liberty print that has been reworked for MAC exclusively for this collection. [insert more notes about the packaging here]

I’m a notorious eye shadow fiend, but strangely, the eye shadows in this collection did not really do it for me. The first reason is that it felt to me that they lacked cohesiveness. Instead, the colors came across as a little bit random and chaotic. Some were strong on their own, and others were a little bit meh for me. I’ve only included my own photos from what I purchased.

Give Me Liberty Of London is a pale, matte pink. This one was fairly sheer when I swatched it, and I’m in two minds about it. Part of me thinks that in itself, it is actually fairly unusual as an eyeshadow shade (really, think now, have you ever seen a matte pale pink?). However, I have to admit that I decided I could think of little uses for it and was worried about it giving me a weird case of pink eye, so decided to skip.

Free To Be is a pretty coral matte shade. This is now in the permanent line, so I think you could definitely take your time about making up your mind with this. Maybe a sheer matte sunset eye with Give Me Liberty…? I thought it was a pretty good color with reasonable payoff considering it is a matte.

Birds & Berries is a very pretty darkened shimmery teal. It has delicious color pay-off and a gorgeous shade. The only reason I skipped is because it is practically the same as Strike a Pose from the Starflash collection, but if I didn’t already have this color, I would so be grabbing this.

Bough Grey is a lovely gray with a tinge of green. This reminds me in some ways of Silverthorn from A Rose Romance, but it is darker and greener. I am going to use this is a smoky eye and can see this being great as a neutral. 

Dame's Desire was repromoted from the Dame Edna and I skipped right over it at looks close to a couple of pinky / purples I already have. Purples and me have historically not got along very well, so that one wasn't going to catch my eye. 

There are 2 blushes - Prim & Proper and Dirty Plum. Prim & Proper is a great neutral with a touch of pink. Shocking - I do not have any neutral blushes at all - how terrible am I?!?! I keep buying pinks instead! Anyway, this is a gorgeous, useful every day color that can also be used for contouring. I can see myself using this regularly to work. 

I also picked up the Shell Pearl Beauty Powder. It's a pretty sheer pink shimmery highlighter. This is going to be a great summery shimmery powder. It's just a great, pretty color. Very simple. There is also a Summer Rose Beauty Powder that I nearly picked up. I saw it first the A Rose Romance last summer, and wanted it then. I'm still debating that one as well. Trying to be strong here!

Shell Pearl, Prim & Proper, Bough Grey

This collection really came into its own on the lip products. Wowser. There are two cool lip colors - Blooming Lovely and Petals & Peacocks. Cool lip colors don't work so well with my warmer tones, so I looked over the and scored Ever Hip and Peachstock. Ever Hip is a super gorgeous creamy summer color (coral is the color of the summer girls!!). Peachstock is a creamy peachy-nude. It's from the PRO line, so you do not have to run to pick this one up.

There are 4 lip glosses - English Accents which is a cooler pink toned gloss, A Different Groove which is a dark blackberry gloss (I didn't buy this one but it is really tempting!), Perenially High Style which is a yummy summer coral, and Frankly Fresh which is a nude pink shimmer gloss.

Peachstock, Ever Hip, Frankly Fresh, Perenially High Style

All in all this collection has some real hits and some total skips. What did you pick up?

More Picks from Elf

A couple of weeks ago I received some Elf products in the mail to try out. In the stress of all things in-law over the last week, I haven't been near the internet or my make up stand, so these have had to wait before I got to play with them.

Regular readers of the blog will know that I have tried out some Elf products before, and some I loved, and some I hated, so I had no expectations when I played around with these products at all.

My first reaction to the package was that there is so much packaging! I didn't keep a picture, but the lipgloss came in a plastic outer pack, the lipstain in a box, the brush in a plastic wrap (that I'm fine with for sanitary reasons), and the eye shadow in a cardboard box. All of it together just seemed so unnecessary. I know that these days I really look at packaging and am conscious about how much trash I create, and given that Elf is majority mail-order company, this all seemed a little much.

I have tried the lipstain before in the color Fashionista($3), and really liked it. It's a gorgeous pinky nude, and was reasonably comfortable to wear, given it was a lipstain, which are in general a little bit drying. For this reason, I was very excited to try the Lipstain in Birthday Suit ($3). Unfortunately, this was disappointing. The color is a much more opaque, brighter pink, and really quite pretty, again in a spring way. According the Elf packaging, the lipstains can either be worn alone for a matte color, or with the attached clear moisterizing gloss. I had birthday suit on for 5 minutes before it started to dry my lips out, and was uncomfortable to wear. The reason why I liked Fashionista so much was that it could be worn without the gloss without being too drying. I don't know why Birthday suit was so different, but it was very drying on my lips. You can see it actually start to dry them out, and in the swatch you can see it's almost dry as well. This was a disappointment.

I also received a Super Glossy Lip Shine in Pink Kiss ($1). This is Elf's answer to the infamous Lancome Juicy Tube, in that it comes in a tube with the slanted opening. The color is not exactly unique, but it is very, very pretty. It's a cool sheer pink with a slight shimmer. It was nice to wear, reasonably smooth, and non-drying, and not very sticky. The only thing I did not like about this product was the scent, which was sweet and reminded me of a childhood candy, which I could not quite remember which one. Some people might like it, but not me. I'm not sure I'd buy this again, as I'm not really a lipgloss girl, but at $1, this is definitely a good steal. Thumbs up.

The Defining Eye Brush ($1) was a surprise to me. I have tried one other brush from the standard Elf line, and hated it because the bristles kept falling out. This one is so much better. It has a slanted head, and is designed for defining your crease. I have a fluffed out one which I love using, but this is good at being precise and more specific, so I can see this being a really useful addition to my kit. Another thumbs up from me.

The final thing that Elf sent me was a Mineral Eye Shadow in Caffeinated ($3). I have tried one other mineral eye shadow from Elf, Natural, and love it so much it's received two posts on JLG, so naturally I had high hopes for Caffeinated. The name made me expect a dark espresso brown, whereas I think the color is closer to a dark antique gold. Again, it's not a super original color, so check your stash before purchasing, but it is pretty and very useful. It swatched deliciously rich and smooth. The only thing I can see not loving about this shadow is that the packaging - a jar with a shaker top - does not stop a lot of shadow getting into the top area, and with a color as rich and dark as this, you might not want a whole lot on your brush. But the color itself is gorgeous, and I can see working well on summer nights with some black liquid liner and a bronze lip. Gorgeous.

 

Gloss in Pink Kiss, Stain in Birthday Suit, Mineral Shadow in Caffeinated

What's your experience with Elf been? Good, bad, indifferent? I'd love to hear in the comments.

The products in this post were provided for review purposes. Products provided for review are not guaranteed coverage, nor are they guaranteed positive reviews. This post contains affiliate links, which in no way influence the review of a product on Jolie Laide Girl.

Spring Color Forecast Haul Part 2

As I posted last week, I knew I was going to have to take MAC's Spring Color Forecast in stages as it is such an overwhelming collection. This week I headed back to my MAC counter without the puppy and came away with a few more pieces.

 

One of the products I was most excited about was the Stacked 2! Pigments ($32.50). These are a different texture from normal pigments, and closer to Solar Bits from Style Warriors last summer (the first MAC collection I got excited about, incidentally). For those who are not familiar with those, they are much lumpier feel almost wet when touched. They are incredibly rich and soft. 

As you can see, the colors are a true gold, an antique or green tinged gold, a copper tinged gold, and a more pink or melon gold. They have a very high shine quotient, so I can see these being fun to add as a base, or smudging on the crease to add some drama, but not using all over, apart from something over the top. Not that there's anything wrong with being over the top sometimes!

I am a real sucker for golds - they are probably my biggest weakness when it comes to make up. And really, anything gold - highlighter, bronzer, lip colors - anything with gold just sings to me! So this palette ($36) was always going to come home with me. The palette is in the new packaging which apparently all palettes will be in from now on. I much prefer it - it looks like an upgrade to me - a little more put together and durable. 

L-R Manila Paper, Flip, Aztec Brick, Creole Beauty

Manila Paper is a smooth light gold with a touch of shimmer

Flip is a light red or peach gold. Again it has a hint of shimmer. It reminds me of all my other peachy golds that I posted about it, so I'm bound to like it. It did swatch the worst out of the four though. 

Aztec Brick is a rich copper. This swatched super rich and will be gorgeous and versatile. 

Creole Beauty is a rich bronze color. Again, it swatched well. It really reminds me of Bronze actually. 

You might already have a bunch of these colors in your collection already, in which case you can skip this palette. If you are just getting into this color family, then you should definitely check these out. 

 

I thought I was going to get a lot more lip glosses from this collection, but when I saw them in person, I actually ended up not loving a lot of them, mainly because I thought that they were very dupable. 

I did pick up Gold Dust which is a perfect gold shimmery gloss - warm in tone, and awesome to wear alone or over another color. I am imagining this on tropical beaches in the evening - gorgeous sultriness. 

Kumquat is a great rich coral - super bright and fun. 

Hush Hush Rose is an amazingly pretty raspberry gloss with some shimmer.

L-R Gold Dust, Ember, Hush Hush Rose, Pink Burst

Prior to seeing the collection in real life, I was excited about Cha Cha, Electric Fuchsia, Almondine, and Culture Clash. Cha Cha is a milky coral that ended up making me look a little weird and dead. Electric Fuchsia is a great bright color but I was put off by the blue shimmer. However I do think it's a great and exciting color, just not for me. Culture Clash reminded me of a gazillion other similiar milky pink glosses with shimmer that MAC puts out with every collection and I am sick of accidentally buying and finding a gazillion other shades of in my collection. Almondine looks very scary in the tube, but actually sheers out very nicely, but it reminded me of Elle, which came in one of the Holiday 09 collections as a mini, and I really think a mini is enough of this shade that I need. 

One final purchase was Pink Burst Lipstick, which is oh-so aptly named. It is a gorgeous rich bright shock of pink, sheer enough to be wearable but buildable. A gorgeous spring color, or wear it now to brighten up your day!

I really loved this collection - it was bright, fun, dynamic, and exciting. I've used almost everything since purchasing in some way despite the cold weather, and even though the colors are bright, they are wearable and flexible. I know it's a big collection, and in some ways very overwhelming, but it's definitely worth taking a look at, and there is bound to be something for everyone in it.

Warm & Cozy Haul

I hauled from the MAC Warm & Cozy collection online a couple of days ago, so I've had these for a couple of days now, but with Christmas fun and games I haven't had a chance to post online. I adore neutrals, and am slowly building up a collection of them, particularly from MAC. A whole collection of yummy warm neutrals was super exciting for me, and when I got my little paws on my package the other day, I had very high expectations. Sadly, for me, this collection didn't totally live up to those expectations.

From left to right, Mulled Cider, Modelette, and Chamomile

Mulled Cider is a satin, although it looks and feels more like a matte. Although I liked the warm brown-ness (I wanted to write brownie-ness there, but that would be whole other connotations!), I felt it was easily dupable. Sure enough, I looked through my not too extensive neutrals collection, and found that A Little Folie was pretty close, although it haad a touch more plum to it. I have to admit that I'm not super good at remembering to use A Little Folie, but maybe this collection will bring me back to it, as it doesn't feel like Mulled Cider is worth keeping.

 

Modelette is also a satin, and looks and feels like one as well. I like it a lot; it is a pretty tan or light brown that I see being really useful in daytime neutrals. It is not super pigmented, so needs some work to build up color.

Chamomile is a surprising winner. I am not really into highlight colors (I really have just three at the moment - Vanilla, Shroom, and Ricepaper), but Chamomile has won me over. Again, it is a satin, and has a nice smooth feel. It is also pretty pigmented - more so that Modelette actually.

Siss and Warm Me Up

From the lip side, I picked up 3 glosses - 2N, 3N, and Feeling Dreamy, and 2 lipsticks - Siss, and Warm Me Up.

Warm Me Up is an Amplified finish, and a pretty rose pink color. I love it. It is a great neutral pink, and strangely, I couldn't find anything else in my collection that matched it. Siss is a mid-brown or tan glaze. Seen those words before? That's right, I think Siss is pretty much the same color as Modelette eye shadow. Weird, huh? Normally I adore glaze finishes because of the sheerness and the sheen, but Siss is actually pretty strong. It also is suprisingly cool-toned on my face, and doesn't do anything for me at all. Not a winner.

Siss, Warm Me Up

Of the 3 glosses, 2 were rereleases, 2N and 3N. Normally, I look out for re-releases as I'm a MAC newbie and if a product was so good they're going to do it twice, it must be worth paying attention to.

From l-r: 2N, Feeling Dreamy, 3N

2N is a warm, creamy neutral beige. It is a pretty color, very wearable, and there is no shimmer. I liked this color, but didn't find anything too amazing about it. I already have some great neutral lipglasses (C Thru, Underage, Poetic License), and didn't feel that this one really added anything to my collection.

3N is a gorgeous, warm, browny color, with a hint of shimmer. I loved this color, and could definitely see me wearing this on a regular basis, especially at work.

Feeling Dreamy is very similar with 2N, but with a hint of shimmer. Weirdly, I usually don't like shimmery glosses, but preferred Feeling Dreamy to 2N. I felt like the shimmer added a bit of a kick to it.

 From l-r: 2N, Feeling Dreamy, 3N

There is a fourth gloss - Light That Fire - that I didn't pick up because I normally don't love corals, but seeing the swatches around the internet, I feel like I might be interested. I also didn't pick up the shadesticks, because I have no idea how they would fit into my collection, but I'm now debating picking up Nurture which is a pink champagne. Plus, I skipped the blushes, because they looked supershimmery, which isn't really my thing.

I've also done a quick look with these colors that I'll be posting later this week.

What about you - what did you think of this collection? Live up to your expectations or a blah skip?