Hello ladies,

hope you are all having a nice day. I haven’t worn makeup much this past week as I had a bad cold and was too lazy to apply anything to my face.

But now that I’m better I decided to do something really bright to make up for lost time using the Lemon shade from Beauty From The Earth my friend Ana sent me. Thanks hun, I LOVE this color, it’s so bright and pigmented. And it’s very easy to work with too.

I’ve decided to pair it with some pink and purples and here is what came out:

Products used:
- Urban Decay Primer Potion
- Beauty From The Earth eyeshadow in Lemon
- ELF Brightening Eye Color in Pretty n Pink (soft pink)
- Makeup Masala eyeshadow in Agni
- Sleek Original eyeshadow palette (bright purple)
- Sleek Curious eyeshadow palette (dark purple)
- Get in Line palette (pale beige)
- L’Oreal Telescopic Explosion mascara
- Max Factor Masterpiece Max mascara

Directions:
- Apply Urban Decay Primer Potion all over lid as a base.
- Apply a yellow shade (I used Beauty From The Earth shadow in Lemon) on the lid and, using MAC 219 pencil brush, swipe some on the inner lower lashline too.
- Apply a soft pink shade (I used the one in ELF Brightening Eye Color in Pretty n Pink) on the inner crease.
- Swipe a very bright pink shade (I used Makeup Masala eyeshadow in Agni) on the crease and blend.
- Apply a bright purple shade (I used the one in Sleek Original palette) on the crease to darken it. Be careful not to bring the color up too much.
- Swipe a dark purple shade (I used the one in Sleek Curious palette) on the outer corner to darken it even more. Using MAC 219 pencil brush, apply some on the outer lower lashline and blend.
- Swipe a pale beige shade (I used the one in Get in Line palette) on the browbone to highlight.
- Finish off with mascara.

The lovely Dee of Hanidee has given me another award, The Over the Top award. Thanks hun, you’re too sweet

I’m supposed to answer some questions and tag other people so here goes:

Where’s your cell phone: desk

Your hair: straight

Your mother: sweet

Your father: workaholic

Favorite Food: lasagne

Dream last night: nothing

Favorite drink: water

What room are you in: bedroom

Hobby: reading

Fear: spiders

Where were you last night: home

Something that you aren’t: talkative

Muffins: chocolate

Wish list item: laptop

Where did you grow up: Italy

What are you wearing: long pink sweater and blue denim jeans

Your pets: none

Friends: great

Something you’re not wearing: jewellery

Favorite store: Limoni

Favorite color: pink!

Last time you laughed: today

Your best friend: my boyfriend

Place you go to over and over: my boyfriend’s place

Person who emails you regularly: blogs subscriptions

Favorite place to eat: Il Girasole (they make the best pizza ever!)

I tag anyone who wants to do this!

Name: Powder Brush
Brand: E.L.F. Studio Line
Price: £3.50

From E.L.F.’s website:
This new anti bacterial, synthetic haired Taklon brush is softer and more absorbent and can be used with wet or dry products. Creates a professional sculpted look. Use for powder or blush for perfect contouring.

What I liked:
- very soft
- works very well with both liquid and powder products
- doesn’t shed
- doesn’t bleed
- the price

What I didn’t like:
- strong chemical scent
- a couple of uneven bristles

I bought the ELF Studio Powder Brush after reading Connie’s rave review and I’m so glad I did! This brush doesn’t disappoint. It applies mineral foundation like a dream and works equally well with liquid products too.

The Studio Powder brush is basically a flat top brush. The synthetic bristles are extremely soft and feel like velvet on my skin. No scratching at all. And because they are so dense, they pick up a good amount of product and provide medium coverage.

When I apply mineral foundation with a kabuki brush, I usually need at least a couple of layers to get the coverage I want. But with this brush, one layer is enough to even out my skin tone, cover small imperfections and give a natural finish.

I also use this brush to apply liquid foundation using the stippling method (put some foundation on your hand, dip the tip of the bristles in it gently and apply it tapping it onto your face) and I’m very impressed with the results. It gives my skin an airbrushed and flawless appearance quickly and easily.

I also didn’t experience any shedding at all and the bristles didn’t bleed either. I wash this brush quite often and it’s still as good as new. It also reshapes very well after washing.

However, the brush has two minor flaws. The first is the scent: it’s strong and chemical and very unappealing. But the good news is that it goes away as soon as you wash it.

In addition, I noticed that the bristles were slightly uneven. There were a couple that were sticking out above the rest, so I trimmed them with some small scissors.

Overall, these are really small flaws that can be fixed easily and they certainly won’t stop me from buying a back up of this brush cos I think the quality is amazing and at only £3.50, it’s a steal!

Summary
I’m in love with this brush! The bristles are soft and dense and apply both powder and liquid foundation like a dream. It provides medium coverage and gives my skin an airbrushed look in seconds. In addition, it doesn’t bleed nor shed and is so inexpensive! However, it has a strong chemical scent (which disappears after a good wash) and you may need to trim a couple of bristles.

Rating: 5/5

Name: Complexion Brush
Brand: E.L.F. Studio Line
Price: £3.50

From E.L.F.’s website:
-Creates an even and natural finish
-Expertly sweeps all types of powders across the entire face and sculpts features beautifully
-Use with pressed, loose, or translucent powders, blush or bronzer

What I liked:
- very soft
- applies powder sheerly
- doesn’t shed
- doesn’t bleed
- the price

What I didn’t like:
- too large for contouring

I was looking for a blush brush and when the ELF Studio Line was released here I decided to get the Complexion brush after hearing so many people rave about it.

The £3.50 dome shaped brush is black, has synthetic bristles, and looks very sleek and professional. But when I first saw it I was a bit disappointed as the bristles looked a bit too flimsy for me (I usually prefer something more dense).

But that turned out to be a good thing as the fluffy bristles don’t pick up too much product so even the most pigmented blushes apply sheerly and give just a soft pop of color, which is perfectt for pale-skinned girls like me. And if you want, you can also build-up the intensity of the color.

I also used the brush to contour and it did a decent job. But I still prefer to use my Sephora Professionel Angled Brush Blush #40 for that as I feel the ELF brush is a bit too wide to contour properly.

But overall, the blush is perfect to apply any type of powder, either dry or wet, to you face and the bristles are insanely soft! This is definitely one of the softest brushes I have ever used.

Also, the brush doesn’t shed nor bleed and reshapes well after washing. It has a strong chemical scent, but that disappears as soon as you wash it.

Summary
Overall, I love this brush. The bristles are very soft and pick up just the right amount of product to give your cheeks a nice and sheer pop of color. It doesn’t shed nor bleed and it is very inexpensive. However, the brush is too big for contouring.

Rating: 4/5

Name: Golden Bronzer
Brand: E.L.F. Studio Line
Size: 12.3g
Price: £3.50

From E.L.F.’s website:
Create a healthy looking glow all year round! The sheer soft powders provide the perfect hue of color. Blend all 4 colors together to achieve a blend of perfection or choose your favorite color or colors to mix, match and blend.
Golden Bronzer- An illuminating shimmer that is subtle and radiant. Ideal for summer or year-round.

What I liked:
- suitable for pale skin
- works well as a highlighter
- the packaging
- the price

What I didn’t like:
- too shimmery to contour
- not very pigmented

I love bronzers but finding one that works well for my pale skin is so hard! E.L.F. Studio Golden Bronzer seemed light enough to suit fair-skinned girls, so I couldn’t wait to try it. As you can see, mine was a bit broken when I got it, but it’s nothing irreparable.

The Golden Bronzer features four shimmery shades: a dark brown, a light beige, a bronzish brown and a pinkish brown. When used together, you get a nice shimmery goldish bronze shade.

The bronzer is a bit powdery, although not so much to actually bother me. The shades are all very sheer so, if you don’t have pale skin, this won’t add any color at all. I was hoping to use this to contour, but it is way too shimmery for that. But it works really well as a highlighter to give your face a nice glow.

The bronzer comes in a beautiful and sleek black case, which looks very similar to Nars’ packaging. But I prefer E.L.F.’s because the case isn’t rubbery so it is easier to clean. It also comes with a mirror which is pretty big so you can actually see what you’re doing when you apply the bronzer.

Summary
Overall, E.L.F. Golden Bronzer is a good product, especially considered the price. It is too shimmery to be used to contour the face and is not very pigmented so the colors won’t show up on people with medium to dark skin. But it works great as a highlighter to give a beautiful glow to your face.

Rating: 3/5

Name: Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder
Brand: E.L.F. Studio Line
Size: 14oz/4.0g
Price: £3.50

From E.L.F.’s website:
Create a healthy and natural glow all year long. The Blush highlights the cheeks to add a flush of color, while the Bronzer accents and contours cheekbones for beautiful definition.

What I liked:
- very pigmented
- blush gives a healthy and glowy look
- bronzer is great for contouring
- the packaging
- the price

What I didn’t like:
- bronzer not suitable for pale skin

The ELF studio line was finally released in Europe at the end of July and after hearing so many great things about it I couldn’t wait to get my hands on some of the products. The Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder in particular has been on my wishlist for ages and I was really excited to finally be able to play with it.

The compact, which contains a blush and a bronzer, looks very sleek and similar to Nars’ packaging. But the E.L.F.’s one isn’t rubbery, which makes it easier to clean. It comes with a big mirror but no brush. I don’t mind that since I never use those brushes that come with products. They are never good.

Both the blush and bronzer have a slightly soft texture. The powder is finely milled but not very well pressed and can end up all over the compact after a while. Both shades are very pigmented too and a little goes a long way.

The blush is peachy pink with gold shimmers. It’s a very wearable color that gives a glowy, rosy-cheeks look. Because it is so pigmented it needs to be applied with a light hand. It starts fading after several hours and needs to be retouched a couple of times throughout the day.

The bronzer is a dark brown shade with shimmers but they can be hardly noticed once applied. As soon as I saw how dark it was I knew it wouldn’t be suitable for pale skin. Still I decided to try it. I dabbed the brush in with a very light hand, tapped off any excess and very gently swiped it on.

But it still made me look dirty and muddy. A lot of blending, time and powder later I managed to make it look decent but I still wasn’t comfortable wearing it outside so I just washed my face and removed it.

While the bronzer would work great for contouring darker skin, I’m not sure I’d recommend the duo to pale-skinned ladies since the bronzer is useless to them. But overall, £3.50 is a great deal even if you only use the blush.

Summary:
Overall, I like this duo a lot. It’s very cheap, the packaging is sleek and the colors are very pigmented. The blush is perfect to achieve a rosy cheek look but fades throughout the day, while the bronzer would work well for contouring, but is not suitable for pale skin.

Rating: 4/5

Name: Shine Eraser
Brand: E.L.F.
Size: 50 blotting sheets
Price: €2.03

From E.L.F.’s website:
These amazing little sheets instantly absorb oil, minimize pores and mattify shiny skin. Woven texture eradicates shine and keeps skin matte for hours. Green Tea Extract helps re-texturize skin, masking facial imperfections. Travel pack fits neatly in your bag or pocket for on-the-go touch-ups.

What I liked:
- absorbs shine well
- easy to carry around
- the price

What I didn’t like:
- doesn’t minimize pores
- more than one sheet is needed for very oily skin

I rarely buy oil blotters. I just don’t like spending a lot of money for them, when a tissue or toilet seat paper works just a well. But E.L.F. Shine Eraser comes in a simple green packaging that contains 50 papers for just €2.03!

These sheets are smaller and thinner than most oil blotters out there, which makes it easy to carry them around. They are powder-free and green in color with some darker flecks. I read reviews where people mentioned these flecks got stuck to their faces, but that has never happened to me.

Although small, these sheets absorb shine well without ruining my makeup. My skin is not super oily, but throughout the day my t-zone get shiny so using only one sheet at a time is enough for me. But if your skin is very oily you’ll probably need to use two or three.

Although the product claims that the Green Tea Extract infused in the sheets helps to re-texturize skin and mask facial imperfections, that is obviously not true. While the sheets do a good job at absorbing oil they don’t re-texturize may skin and don’t make my pores look smaller.

Summary
Overall, these oil blotters work well. They absorb shine but don’t ruin your makeup and are inexpensive. However, if your skin is very oily, using more than one sheet at a time is necessary to completely absorb shine and they obviously don’t mask facial imperfections.

Rating: 3.5/5

Hey guys,

I thought it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane and see what we were talking about this time last year. So, let’s get started:

Product Review: Lancome Color Fever lipstick: this must be the best lipstick I have ever tried. Available in lots of beautiful shades, it is very moisturizing and hydrating. I just wish it wasn’t so expensive!

Interview with Christine from Temptalia: last August, I had the pleasure to interview the lovely Christine of Temptalia. If you missed it, go and read it now!

Product review: E.L.F. Eyeshadow Brush: this brush is one of the best purchases I have ever made. The bristles are dense but soft and don’t shade. And I love that, if I really have to, I could do my entire eye makeup look with just this brush!

A guide to stains: what are stains? What are the pros and cons of using them? And what’s the best way to apply them? This post tells you everything there is to know about them.

5 crazy beauty tips that work: did you know that your hair conditioner can also double up as a shaving cream? It’s a trick I use everytime I travel as it allows me to save space in my suitcase. Plus, the conditioner makes my legs super-soft. Click on the link to read all about it and other crazy beauty tricks.

Product Review: E.L.F. Super Glossy Lip Shine SPF 15: I love these lipglosses! Not only are they really cheap, shiny and provide good coverage, they also protect your lips from the sun.

Source

Hello ladies,

If you were not around this time last year, check out some interesting posts you probably missed. Enjoy!

Do parabens cause cancer?: parabens are a group of preservatives widely used in cosmetic and personal care products. Despite their long history of safe use, recently they have earned a bad reputation. Why is that? And are they really dangerous?

L’Oreal Elvive Nutri Gloss Conditioner Review: this is my HG conditioner. I started using it years ago when I used to dye my hair, which caused it to become dry, brittle and tangled and I’ve stuck with it ever since. It’s the only thing that leaves my hair tangle free. If I don’t use it, combing my hair becomes a nightmare!

How to store makeup properly: storing makeup properly is very important to prolong their shelf life. Here’s a few tips on how to store and remember, never keep your makeup in the bathroom!

E.L.F. Tone Correcting Concealer Review: if you’re looking for an inexpensive concealer that covers dark circles and blemishes as well as evening out the skintone, this E.L.F. concealer is worth checking out.

How to choose the right foundation: finding the perfect foundation can be a real challenge. Here are a few tips to help you choose which type is best for you.