Elf Haul (eyes lips face)

Hello friends in internet land.  I trust you are keeping warm?  On cold nights like tonight instead of a warm blanket and hot chocolate I enjoy going thru my make up collection with a nice Mountain Dew.  Makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.   A month ago I needed primer as my elf primer finally emptied.  I had planned on just ordering a primer.  However around four am the morning I got my direct deposit I got an Email from ELF.  They send me emails like twice a week with a set or a sale of sorts.  I usually just delete them.  However this coffee break email set had the primer included along with some other items that interested me for only 19.99 and I had a new years five dollar off code because I rock.  So I figured why not.  So come along with me as I explore the world of goodness that is my elf haul.  The good, the bad and the ugly will be shown and discussed. 

The good!

1.  Elf Mineral Primer.  This is my second bottle.  I love this stuff.  It has a silicone texture and my foundation and other crap just glides right on.  It leaves a lovely satiny feel to your skin.  I do have combination skin and it works really well.  It is only 6.00 and has a great pump.  I love the packaging as well.  I set it next to my foundation bottle on my vanity.  ELF Primer  There are three different kinds.  I have tried the Mineral face primer and the Hydrating mineral face primer.  They both work the same.  I don't need extra hydration and really can't see the difference so if you are stuck just go for the regular Mineral Face Primer.  You will love it, and for only $6.00 it isn't much of a risk.

2.  ELF Nail Polish in the color Glamour Girl.  This is my first ELF nail polish.  (If you'd like a nail polish collection post comment below)  This polish surprised me as much as the fact there is no letter z in the word surprised.  It is an opaque light tannish brown that has a pinky undertone to it.  It is the perfect neutral or nude color and it has shimmers in it.  This is a 2-3 coat polish and be sure to use a great top coat to help with fast chipping.  You can't expect a $2.00 polish to be extremely long lasting.  However it applies like a dream and the brush is nice and short and lets you be precise in your application.  Check out the selection and their website has great sets for under $10.00.  You can also find elf in some Targets and Dollar Trees and Drugstores.  ELF Nail Polish 

3.  5 pc (4 if you don't include the pouch)  ELF Studio Travel Stipple Brush set.  $15.00 retail cost.  I love love love elf brushes.  I have many of the $1.00 essential eye brushes (white handle).  They are soft and do the job well.  This kit comes with The travel stipple brush, the small stipple brush, eyeshadow stipple brush and tapered stipple brush.  The duo fiber stipple brushes are great for mineral eyeshadows and loose makeup..  the white hairs easily pick up the product lightly and you just pat or dab (stipple) it onto your area you are working with.  The brushes are soft and they look cool.  The pouch is nice as it has the bands to hold the brushes and you fold over the bag and snap.  on the side is a zippered pouch to throw in a few mineral eye shadows or what not.  Glad I have them but I wouldn't like buy them separately for $15.00 when I can buy the whole Studio brush line for $30.00.  ( i wouldn't as they are on sale constantly or free with 25.00 purchase all the time .  Definitely sign up for their sales emails so you don't miss out.  Studio Travel Stipple Brush set.

4.  ELF Studio Lip stick in the color Pink Minx.  This color is a peachy pink.  It is fairly opaque.  It is pretty close to my lip color.  It is moisturizing and after 2 hours.  It has not traveled to the outline or gummied up.  So yaay for that.  I won't say it is fabulous but that is because the color doesn't play nicely on my lips..it just fades into them and says yeah I'm here but you can't see me.  So I won't make a determination on fantabulousness until I try a deeper color.  However I like the formula so I will try another color.  There are some lipsticks you try and you hate the formula or the way they sit on your lips even before you hate the color...this isn't one of those.  Just use your ELF Lip Exf

olliator (a treasure status product in my book) first.  Did I mention these are only $3.00 each?  They are a little lighter than appear online. Clicky Clicky for Lippy Lippies   MUST HAVE Lip Exfoliator

5.  Elf Studio Makeup Wipes.  I love these wipes.  They are only  $3.00.  And some of the best I have used.  Every time I order I throw on a pack or two of wipes.  Makeup Remover Wipes

Okay so now for the not so good but not so bad... The middle of the road products.

6.  elf Baked Eyeshadow Palette in Texas.  Price for this palette is $10.00.  I was excited for this palette because I only have one baked eyeshadow.  They look really cool.  This palette is all neutrals.  Using them dry is not advisable.  They are powdery and not that great looking on the eye.  There is little pigmentation and honestly they all seem to look like each other and when you blend they just blend away unfortunately.  However they go on nicely wet.  I will not buy or recommend this palette ever.  You can go to BH cosmetics and get a great baked eyeshadow palette there.  In case you want to look at it or try it yourself at your own risk..Baked Eyeshadow 
The best part of this palette is the huge mirror.

7.  Elf Studio Mineral Facial Mist.  Note I stole this copy from the website because hey I have no original words to say about what this supposedly is or does.  Replenish and boost your skin with the revitalizing Mineral Mist. This unique blend of Witch Hazel, Rosemary, Chamomile, Honeysuckle, Aloe and Vitamin B work together to balance and enhance the skin, leaving you looking energized and renewed. These nourishing key ingredients keep your complexion radiant, brighter and provides instant moisture to smooth and boost skin circulation for a firmer more youthful glow. The lightweight and invigorating mist leaves skin feeling revived and restored,

All e.l.f. mineral makeup is 100% natural mineral-based with no parabens, no preservatives and no chemical dyes. 
Okay I am sure this is great, but I don't see the benefit and what not for paying $6.00 for 1fl oz of this stuff.  Yes it feels nice.  When I was sick I sprayed often but honestly I wouldn't buy it again.  My skin is usually fine and I didn't see any balancing effect.  If you have money you need to throw away on stuff you don't need buy this.  How about instead buy a 6 pack of Kraft mac and cheese break it apart and donate it to a food shelf or neighbor that has kids.  Add a pack or two of hot dogs and there you go.   Much better purchase for your $6.00.

Now the UGLY...

I love ELF products and they have great deals and you can get free shipping when you order a certain dollar amt.  Now I only paid 14.95 for this set (I had a coupon code for $5.00 off) so I had to pay $6.95 for the shipping.  The holy shit this sucks part is it takes two to three weeks to get your stuff.  Even if you pay for shipping.  WTF.  I live in WI not Asia.  You ship from the east coast not russia.  Oh well.  I am impatient and want what I want in a week and half tops. lol,  

Elf has great products.  Check them out, take them for a spin..  

Friend Mail :-)

Hello Internet Friends.  Guess what time it is?  It's time for Friend Mail.  While I know friend mail isn't as exciting to read in Blog land as it is to watch on the Youtube.. I am going to post it just the same.  Lets take a magical journey through my package I  recently received from an friend from yesteryear.  (Middle School).  Let me paint you a picture.  I wasn't the most popular person by far in school.  I looked different, most likely acted different because I was treated different.  However time blurs and people mature and such.  I joined Facebook and now I am "friends" with half of everyone I knew in Middle School.  Friend and Foe.  Why Not.  Time gives perspective.  I can see where they came from.  Middle school is major pressure for everyone.  Anyhow.  Sometime In October in my manic midnight hours I wrote a post aimed at family members to give them Idea's of what they can get me for Christmas if they so choose.  I gave a few general ideas like Cookbooks, Makeup...and I specified NYX makeup because I knew it was relatively inexpensive and I just got done watching all the NYX face award videos so I was highly interested in this brand as I never tried it.  A few days later in our Ipsy bags we got a NYX eyeshadow and I received a message via facebook from a person I had messaged a few times over the years since befriending them on facebook, asking me if I'd like her eyeshadow from the ipsy bag as she remembered me posting about wanting NYX products.  I said yes and we have been talking ever since.  Yes people Makeup can bring people together.  It is a beautiful thing!  We have sent packages back and forth of samples and products from our collections that we won't use or no longer want,  and here is the latest.  I am so excited for these items and I audibly squealed when I opened it.  (can you picture it?) okay...  So thank you so much friend.  I appreciate your mail and your friendship.

Here we go...

1.  A sample of Starrily Bzzz Bzzz polish.  It is a wonderful clear coat with chunky black flecks and gold glitter.  Perfect to lay over a silver or white polish.  A wonderful addition to my polish collection.

2.  A sample of Lip Perfection Gel in the color Melrose from perfektbeauty.com  yes that is spelled correctly.  It is a wonderfully opaque mauve color that leaves my lips hydrated and doesn't feel gross on my lips at all.

3.  Pop Beauty Eyeshadow Trio in Smoking Hot.  A great palette of Black, Silver and White.  Perfect for a great smokey eye.  

4.  Be A Bombshell One Stick in the color Flustered.  This product is a lip and cheek stain in a stick form.  The best way to use it is to swatchy swatchy on the back of your hand and take a stipple brush and pick up the color on the tips of the brush and swirly swirly on your cheeks.  You can also just apply to the brush from the stick...just lightly pounce your stipple brush on the stick until you got it lightly covered.  Works great and you don't look like a clown.  

5.  Andrea Strip lashes number 33.  These are extremely full and beautiful lashes.  I cannot wait to try them out.  

6.  Aveda re hydrating lip glaze mini in Himalayan Snow.  It is a lovely light sparkly lip glaze that goes perfectly over any drying lipstick to give a extra special something.

7.  My very first NYX lipstick in the shade Goddess.  This is a neutral rosy peach color.  One of my favorites to use.  It is hydrating and doesn't fade quickly or spread to the corners of my mouth.  I am in love.

8.  And the most exciting product... The extremely hyped on Youtube...Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser.  I was looking online for this and my Walmart didn't have it and she found it for me.  It has a silicone texture and leaves the skin feeling soft.  My foundation just glides on and keeps my makeup looking great all night long.  Many a youtube guru says that even though it isn't textually at all like benefits pore fessional, the performance of the babyskin out performs or is comparable to the pore fessional which is 30.00 while the Babyskin is 5-8.  Depending on where you buy it.  There is only one person who said that they still prefer the Benefit product.  I don't listen to everything I hear from these ladies as some are self identified high end biased...so now that I have this from my friend and Ipsy sent me a sample of Pore Fessional I can put them side by side and test them myself.  Funny thing is my Elf Primer finally came and I got a Rimmel Primer as well.  Two weeks ago I had no primers and now I have several and what else would a blogger do in the interest of science and material to write about.  A primer/pore eraser smackdown!  Be watching for it.

I love my friends and I love mail.  I love trying different products and I love writing about them.  It gives me something to do.  It keeps me from singing off key country songs all night long and I am sure my Children are very grateful.  Until next time Internet friends.  And remember Friends don't let Friends Buy Crap!  Just give it to me and I will find a use for it or write about it.  :-)  

Boxy Charm January 2014

Hello Internet Friends.  You all know I love mail.  I love presents and surprises and most of all I love stuff.  I found out about a new to me beauty subscription service.  Boxy Charm.  Boxy Charm promises that each box will have $50.00 or more of retail value.  Now I have watched the unboxings for many months and while many people are not into the boxes I am as they send full size products mainly Drug Store items, limited editions, special collections etc perhaps discontinued items.  Still usable and good.  If you are like me and don't have access to drug stores and discount stores this is a good box to get.  I like it because I can grow my collection of makeup quickly and with products that my small town Walmart never even got.  Boxycharm is $21.00 a month and that includes shipping.  Lets get into it!

1.  Spa Rituals Vegan Nail Laquer in the shade Quiet Storm.  A lovely light lavender color.  It is fairly opaque.  The downside for some is that it smells like spray paint.  It took me a few sniffs to place the scent.  Spray paint or those Black markers in the steel barrels that you shake and it has the bead in it.  Yep it is an interesting scent.  Keep away from anyone you know that overly enjoys that sort of thing!  However it is a nice polish that lasts well.  Retail $12.00  Check out their website and enjoy pages of color they have available  Spa Rituals Polish

2.  Next up in our box of beauty is the Be A Bombshell eye shadow in the color Birthday Suit.  A lovely nude shade and yes it is skintone, It is the perfect brow highlight, or great to calm down your exuberance in color experimentation.  Retail $14.00  Check out the Be A Bombshell website.  I really enjoy their products as I recieve them frequently in my Ipsy bags.  Be A Bombshell Click here to explode your makeup collection

3.  Onto Lippies... A full size OFRA Liquid Lipstick in the shade Angeles.  It is a nude color with rosey undertones (spread it around on your hand and you will see it.)  The formula is really nice.  Good staying power.  The oh god no for me which many of you may like is it smells like a French Vanilla Cappuccino and I despise the smell of coffee.  It doesn't last too long so I can tolerate it because I enjoy placing it in the middle of my lips to create a dimensional effect.  Will also be fantabulous to mute a bright shade.  Hang onto your wallets...  Retail $19.90.  This color is on sale for $14.92.  It claims to stay put for 5 hours Without Eating or Drinking and I am guessing smoking is covered in that as well.  So if perhaps you have Jury duty or something where you will not be drinking or smoking for 5 hours this will be for you!  Check out the OFRA website to see what they are about and to explore their other shades and products.  This is a winner.  OFRA Click me for long lasting Lippies.

4.  Are you getting excited yet?  I know I was when I pulled the Model Co. Gel Eyeliner in Black.  Great lasting power.  Liner glides across lid with wonderful black precision.  Retail $22.00.  22 dollars for an eyeliner no f'ing way... Yep no lie.  Click the link to check it out.  Model Co expensive makeup

5.  Finally... Reveillie Warm Vanilla Body Polish.  Wow.  I love Body Scrubs.  This felt like rubbing brown sugar all over your body and if you are itchy it is nice.  After rinsing it off it left my skin very soft.  Smells like brown sugar and vanilla.  This product is hand crafted and retails for $16.75  Click to check it out.  Body Scrub Love

Those were my wonderful treats in my Boxy Charm Box for January.  Click this link to check it out for yourself. Boxycharm  I truely Cannot wait until next month.  Take care for now and Remember Friends don't let friends Buy Crap.

January 2014 IPSY...

Hello Internet Friends.  It is IPSY time.  Ipsy is my favorite low cost beauty subscription service.  For only $10.00 a month 4-6 full size or deluxe size samples are mailed to your door every month.  Ipsy has a rewards program.  You can earn points by simply sharing you got your bag on Facebook, answering a short survey on how much you liked or disliked each product in your bag, and of coarse referring friends.  With the points you can redeem them for full size products such as a beauty blender, a kiss nail art kit, and Benefit Badlash mascara.  Those are this months free items.  Ipsy also has challenges from time to time to which you can win full size name brand products.  Without further ado here is this months bag.

To start we have a lovely baby blue makeup bag with an illustration of a makeup items in a silhouetted skyline formation. Of coarse it isn't fabulous quality but there are always uses for free makeup bags.

 As we unzip the bag, the first product we pull out is..da da duh... Yaby Cosmetics Foundation in Buff.  yaby was developed by Toronto makeup artist Liz Yu.  It seems to be a cosmetic company geared to makeup artists.  Everything is refillable and their eye-shadows will fit any type of metal container.  Nice.  Anyhow back to the foundation.  The sample size was a nice 8ml.  Full size is 15.4 grams which is a little bigger than this sample and it retails for $13.55.  I really enjoyed the consistency of this foundation.  It was not greasy and it lasted for quite some time.  It had great coverage as well.  Check it out as they have 18 colors including actual colored foundations which I assume is for color correcting.  Yaby Liquid Foundation.

I am reaching back into the bag (yes imagine it..you see my gorgeousness reaching into the bag with my cotton candy pink nails) and I pull out, a cute little tub of Balanced Guru Body Balm.  1oz.  The label says.  Balm Me Up Organic sweet cocoa & Tangy Body Balm.  Balance your dry skin with Cocoa Butter, Babbasau oil, Shea Butter, Lime & Mandarin.  When I open the lid it looks like Vaseline but whiter.  It smells herbal like, I can smell the citrus.  I know what it smells like..
Off .Mosquito candles.  It does feel a tad bit tacky for a while on your skin.  It does absorb nicely, but it does leave me feeling greasy.  The full size is 4 oz and retails for $45.00.  Their website is really interesting.  It is very aromatherapy oriented.  Check it out for many other products http://balancedguru.com/products/balm-me-up.  I just read the description and it says Wake up your senses and moisturize your skin without feeling tacky or greasy...lol.  Oops.  Sorry Balanced Guru.  Did you try this product before you wrote your description?  To be fair the tackiness only lasts for 5 minutes and now it feels like I just slathered my arm in suntan oil.

Wiping off my fingers I reach back into the bag and pull out...Absolute Makeup Cleansing Tissues with Pomegranate extract.  It comes with 10 tissues and I don't necessarily enjoy the pomegranate scent but I do enjoy the wipes.  Full size is 60 wipes for only 6.99 at walgreens or drugstore.com.  They have citrus, aloe, and cucumber.  I will be ordering the cucumber wipes.  They are nicely saturated and do get my makeup off and are great for just wiping when you wake up before you put on your makeup as well.   I am happy with this find.  It is hard for me to like makeup wipes as many make me red.

Back into the bag... and it is a Malin + Goetz Mojito Lip Balm.  This is full size at .35oz tube.  The consistency is reminiscent of a lubricant such as KY jelly but slightly thinner.  After I slather on a tiny drop that seems to coat my lips in a thick layer of substance with a slight tingle.  I can smell the doublemint gum scent wafting towards my nose.  It does moisturize obviously but unfortunately it doesn't last long and after about 5-10 minutes it gets sticky and icky.  I need one of my facial tissues to wipe it off.  I'm sorry I just don't like this feeling.  It is heavier than most lip glosses.  Now just because it isn't my jam doesn't mean you won't enjoy it.  Click the link to explore their website and notice this is full size and sells on their site for $12.00. http://www.malinandgoetz.com/travel/mojito-lip-balm So I already saved two dollars plus got everything else free...  and we are not done yet.

Finally... I saved the best for last.  Cue the drum roll....  Benefit Pore fessional sample.  This teeny tiny little tube at 3ml...packs a fantastic product that a little goes along way.  I have been waiting forever to try this pore minimizer.  Full size is 22ml for a mere $30.00.  Now many a YouTube guru swears by this product.  For the sake of science and blogging I put the product on my wonderful husbands face as his pores show more than mine.  And yes it does help the appearance of pores.  The question is..will I be able to find a product that performs as well for less money?  I have one waiting to test out and compare.  It will be hauled in my next blog post entitled Friend Mail.  But for fun check out Benefit's website http://www.benefitcosmetics.com/product/view/the-porefessional  to learn all about them and this product.
Well that wraps up this months Ipsy bag.  Obviously it was over $10.00 in value as the lip balm was $12.00 on it's own.  It wasn't awful and I am excited about the Pore Fessional, the makeup wipes and the foundation.  The lip and body balms I can pass on.  Perhaps my husband or son will enjoy them.

Last month I got 3 full size makeup products and three deluxe samples.  I love ipsy and you need to try it too.   Check out IPSY  Superstar Youtube guru Michelle Phan curates these bags.  Try it for two months if one bag stinks the next may be gold.  If you don't like it, you can cancel easily online.  You get to try many products you may never choose to buy on your own or that you may want to try but don't want to spend the moola before you know if you like it or not.  Yes some products you can find at the drug store or OMG Walmart...at times.  I enjoy that because if I like it, I can run out and buy it.  There are many brands that are available at drugstores or walmarts or what not but they are not at my Walmart and there is no drug store near me.  It is a nice blend of both brands that are pricey and online,  Well known brands that are high end and drugstore brands like NYX and Big Sexy Hair.

Until Next time my friends.  Friends Don't let Friends buy Crap!

January Julep Maven Box

Hello Internet friends.  I know it has been along time.  With the new year I have renewed my zest for blogging and vow to be more consistent.  This is my year!  I have several exciting blogs and reviews lined up.  Today we will be discussing the January Julep Maven subscription.  Julep Maven is a nail polish subscription you get to choose between five boxes and around the 24th of every month they email you with the colors in your box and you can choose to keep it, get a different one, skip the month, send it to a friend.  The choices are endless and so are the polish colors.  The polishes are named after females.  I find it fun to give them to people in my life that have the name on the polish.  I do have Heather and unfortunately Heather isn't a very colorful color.  It is a brownish color.  Yes nice for neutral times but I wish it was a purple or blue.  Also nice about this subscription service is you rack up points called Jewels every month.  You get 300 for taking your box, Jewels for every purchase you make, Jewels for your birthday, Jewels for your sign up anniversary and Lots of Jewels for referrals.  I have gotten two free boxes so far and two free polishes.  It is 19.99 a month.  You get 2-3 polishes (depending on what box you choose) and if you get two polishes you get a nail or beauty product.  If I could add speech to my blogs it would totally sound like an infomercial at this point.  So without further ado.  This months box.

 First is the product.  The Ta Da! Quick Dry Drops.  1fl oz.  It says to use wait one minute after applying last coat of polish, then apply one to two drops to each nail.  It smells very nice and herbal like.  I smell a little lavender.  Very nice and it does work.

Second,  I received the color Abigal is a sweet rose gold with micro shimmers,  It has a sticker that says Silk finish on the cap.  Abigal needs two to three coats to be nice and Opaque but it is definitely worth it.  When I think of Abigal I think of what I was going to name my daughter if I had one.

My third item is a polish in the Color Mona,  It is a shiny dark navy blue.  It is opaque with the first coat.  I just adore this color.  Does anyone else think of Who's the boss when they hear the name Mona?  Then my mind goes to Friends and Ross meeting Mona at Monica's wedding where they are discussing her name.  In my house we reference Friends and How I met your mother frequently.

I am quite happy with this months box. I do highly recommend Julep.  Their polishes are great quality, the bottles are great for storage.  I can fit 24 on each row of my nail polish rack.  Now there is only 8ml in each bottle but to me the quality makes up for the lack of product compared to other brands.  However I find it better not only for storage but if you are like me you have ALOT of nail polish,  how often do you ever finish a whole bottle before it gets icky and has to be thrown out.  I also like the fact that i can see progress in usage.  Each bottle comes with a swatch sticker on the lid so you can swatch it and put the cap back on the lid and all you need to do is look at the top to see what color it will be.  I find Julep polishes do apply to the nail very true to the color in the bottle.  Julep has excellent customer service and their reward program cannot be beat.

I cannot wait to see what colors February has in store for me.  If you want to check out Julep Maven you can get a free box Free Julep Box  Enter freecolor in the code box.  It is easy to cancel online if you wish too.  Try it and then let me know what you think.

I hope you all have a great New Year and that your dreams come true.