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.

Puppy Shot of the Day

 

"whatchya bothering me for? Can't you see I'm comfy?"

Spring Color Forecast EOTD Gold Look

Just a simple gold and pink neutral look from Spring Color Forecast. I love how although the colors are bright, they are an easy way to introduce color into your look. Although I do have to do a big over the top look soon!

 

All MAC unless otherwise stated:

Elf Shadow Primer

Inner: Manila

Middle: Perky

Outer: Flip

Crease: Creole 

Highlight: Manila
Mascara: Maybelline Full & Soft

Brows: Anastasia Tinted Brow Gel

 

Nars Illuminates The Way

 

The NARS Orgasm line has become the brand’s biggest success stories, and every year it seems another Orgasm product is developed. The latest addition to the line is the Illuminator, a tube of pink tinged shimmery highlighter in the signature shade.

My first impression of this product is that there is a lot. The tube is 1.1oz ($29), which is comparable to a tube of foundation. It is a gorgeous shimmery pink with a touch of gold to it. This shade is known to be almost universally flattering. I do already have Orgasm in cream blush as part of a blush/bronzer duo, and it is one of only two products that I’ve ever hit pan on (All That Glitters MAC Eyeshadow is the other).

The picture is of two identically sized dots, one sitting on my hand, and one blended out. Once the color was blended out, it was incredibly hard to photograph – that’s how sheer this product is. It is an illuminator – it is not meant to be a blush or even a stain, but more like giving your skin that glow from within look. The liquid is incredibly light, and a little does go a long way, so it can take some getting used to in that respect. The pea sized dot shown on the back of my hand would be enough to sweep from my cheekbones up to my temples.

It can be used over or under foundation, depending on how much shimmer you like.  I think I prefer it under, as it is a little more subtle, and too much moves from “dewy” to “shiny”, and that’s not my favorite look at all. You will definitely need blush as well. It very much reminds me of MAC Strobe Cream, although the pink-tones make it so much more flattering. I do like Strobe, but it can come off as quite cool in some lights. Like MAC Strobe, it is also great for mixing with other products to create custom blend, and I can definitely see myself mixing up a tinted moisteriser with a drop or two of this in it in the summer as a light base that catches the sun. Finally, because of the lovely warm tone and the lightness, it is also great over shoulders and collarbones.

There are some people who may be put off the sheerness and thin consistency of this product. If that is the case, I would highly recommend checking out The Multiple in Orgasm instead. However, if you are looking for a subtle, warmed tinged golden highlighter that will add a healthy glow and gleam to skin, then this is definitely worth taking a look at.

Scrub Those Tootsies Good

Does everyone neglect their feet during winter? I know I do. All that time in tights and boots and never seeing the light of day means spending time on a pedicure doesn't happen. I do paint my tootsies, but scrubs and soaks? Not a chance.

With this in mind, I picked up Lush's Volcano Foot Mask ($19.55 / 11oz) and Pied de Pepper Foot Cream ($14.45 / 3.5oz) in order to start getting my toes in order for spring. Okay, I'm way ahead of the game here. I've just checked the weather forecast and snow is forecast for all of next week. But you know, when flip flop season starts, I'll be prepared!

Volcano foot mask is a rather unappetizing shade of gray, with visible pieces of grit. It had a strong clove and cinnamon scent, although the feature ingredients are tomatoes, papaya and pumice, all designed to smooth off any dry or dead skin. The instructions are to cover your feet in the mask, put them in plastic bags for 10 minutes, and then scrub off. As you can imagine, this is not the tidiest process, and has a high propensity towards, quite simply, making a mess. The mask stays wet on your feet during this period, although anywhere that the mask was exposed to air led to it drying. While my feet were wrapped in plastic (doggie poop bags in my case – sexy times it was not), I did experience a strange peppermint-esque minty heat-cooling sensation, which, if nothing else, made me feel that the mask was definitely doing something. After 10 minutes, I then sat down in the bath and massaged the scrub into my skin, which is to aid the exfoliation process. After that, I rinsed off. Because of the sticky nature of the mask, rinsing off was very difficult, and the mask had a tendency to cling to my feet. I rinsed them under my bath taps. Maybe if I used a basin of water this would be more effective. Because the mask soaks the feet first, making them softer and more receptive to being scrubbed, this mask did do a good job of improving my feet and making them more flip flop friendly. I did notice a visible improvement on my heels where I have a tendency for rougher, old skin to form, and my feet were noticeably smoother. In this respect, the mask definitely worked. Bad points were definitely the high mess factor (although I actually didn’t make a mess of the bathroom, I did feel like I was always “just about to”), the difficulty of actually scrubbing the mask off, and I also think that the cost point is pretty high for what it is. I think that a tub is going to last about 2mths based on weekly scrubs, and that doesn’t seem to be very long for a $20 payout.

I followed up the scrub with the Pied de Pepper foot lotion. This lotion promises to soften feet and control perspiration, and it is recommended for daily use. It has ginger, cinammon, cocoa butter and olive oil as its active ingredients. Maybe I’m super lazy, but I am lucky if I remember to rub lotion on my feet once a week, so expecting me to do this once a day was a bit of a stretch! It did smell nice and peppery, and was easy to rub in. Although the tub is much smaller, I do think it will last a good amount of time (though not if you stick to the rules and use it daily!). I don’t know about controlling perspiration, but I did like that it made my feet feel soft and smooth, and didn’t take a really long time to sink in. If a foot cream takes too long to sink in, then I feel like I’m leaving greasy footprints all over the house as I forget I’m not supposed to be walking around and end up doing some random task.

Both products did do their job pretty effectively, and I’ll continue to use them to start prettying up my feet for the summer.



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Origins Starting Over Has Not Even Started Once

 

A couple of weeks ago, I decided I would randomly expand my brand horizons, and I dropped into the Origins store (this is right next to the MAC store, 4 blocks from Sephora, and an Aveda is across the street – did I ever say that I live in retail heaven!?!). I’d been thinking for the last couple of weeks that I would change up what I use at nights, after reading so much about how important sleep is for skin and the body in general, as this is the time that the body goes into recover and restore mode. I had been using the same moisturizer for both day and night (Philosophy Hope in a Jar – no complaints at all), but thought that given I’m the grand old age of 28. I really need to kick the aging prevention into action.

Origins have just launched a new age correcting moisturizer called Starting Over ($45 / 1.7oz). According to the blurb and the sales assistant, it actually promises to boost collagen production and thus get to work on my evil forehead lines. It uses Mimosa, Argan leaf and Green algae  to rebuild collagen, repair visible lines and improve skin texture and tone. My first impression of the cream was that it smelled divine – like a sweet ginger cocktail. This definitely influenced my purchasing decision. My puppy loves the smell too – every time I put it on he goes crazy trying to lick it of my face like I’m a giant human ice cream cone. Rest assured, people, that in the interests of controlled testing, I turn those Moose kisses down. It is a very rich and thick cream. The box says that the tub is a 3mth supply in a tub, but there is no way I’m making my way through that in the next 3 months – maybe 6. A very small amount goes a long way for me.

As a bit of background, my skin type is the typical troublesome late 20s type – a little bit oily, but starting to show aging signs. Definite pores, the odd red bump, rarely full on blemishes. It can get a little dry at times, and I definitely wish it was smoother. Origins promises that my skin will be softer, smoother, and literally roll back time.

I’m out of the holding back time claim to be honest. I’ve only been using it for 4 weeks, and I haven’t seen any evidence of getting younger yet. It take a while to sink into my skin (10 minutes maybe?), so I do think it works better as a night cream. As I mentioned before, it smells absolutely divine, so there is an immediate feel good pleasure to putting this on. I have to admit I have not seen any real benefits from using this cream for the last few weeks. I do think that maybe it is too rich for my skin, and someone with drier skin would really see some benefits from it. However, for me it feels very rich, but I’m not feeling any smoother, and I’ve had a couple more blemishes since I started using. I did just check on the Origins website, and they do have an oil-free version of this moisturizer which I would be interested in trying, because the idea of the collagen production and age prevention qualities sounds amazing. However, if you have slightly oily skin like I do, I do not think you’re going to get as much out of this moisturizer as it promises.

We Have A Winner!!

The lucky CATANYA!! I've dropped her an email to let her know.

To everyone else, thank you so much for playing along. I had a lot of fun with the contest, and I'll definitely do another one soon. I've already started collecting goodies for it :)