Thursday, November 28, 2013

E.L.F. Studio Baked Eye Shadow Palette Review

First off let me start off by saying, Happy Thanksgiving everyone,  I hope you are all having a good turkey day.  Now lets get straight down to business.  This morning I tried out several of my new e.l.f. products, one of those obviously being my new baked eyeshadow palette, if you read my haul post I said that I purchased the California palette.


DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE!!
The colors in the palette are very beautiful, in the pan.  For the life of me I could not figure out HOW to get this eyeshadow to stick to my eye.  I used a primer, I tried wetting my brush and applying them.  Nothing, absolutely nothing.  The lightest eyeshadows wouldn't even show anything but glitter on my skin; the dark shadows had NO pigmentation what so ever.  The mauvy color looked like a fading bruise on my lower lash line, and I couldn't even use a smudge brush to pack the color on.  I have used some extremely cheap eyeshadows before, my favorite palette through out high school was an 88 costal scents palette (which never gave me problems
)!!  I don't know if i need to use a base color, like a maybelline 24 hour tattoo pots, or mac paint pots, or if I should give it away.

Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of e.l.f. products I have that I love.  I have some of their loose eyeshadows, and never had a problem with them, maybe it's that these are baked, but I don't like it.  I will give this a few more tries and see what happens with it.  I am just really disappointed especially since it was the most expensive thing I purchased ($10) and so far the worst.  I couldn't even build up a good enough swatch for a picture to show you guys.

xoxo, 
Mama Lish

Monday, November 25, 2013

E.L.F. Haul

Recently I made an order from E.L.F. and I got my package today!! I have to say I'm pretty excited to play with these and start doing some reviews and tutorials!!


Some of the products I picked up are duplicates, I just got them in different shades.  I also got lucky and got a freebie thrown in, but the products are still available for purchase.

The product I am most excited about is the H.D. Powder, this is from their studio line.  I purchased this in the shade Corrective yellow and the original shade sheer.  I ordered the yellow powder to set my under eye concealer and highlight, & ordered the original shade for all over my face.  



Speaking of concealer, I have been looking for a new one, so I ordered the Maximum Coverage Concealer from the studio line in Sand and Porcelain.  I plan on mixing the two to get my perfect shade for both under eyes and facial discoloration.  



I also got the Makeup Mist and Set & the Mineral Infused Face Primer.  I have seen a lot of people raving about both of these products.  I am very excited to try them out, especially to see how the mist and set holds up to Urban Decay's All Nighter (which is my go to summer make up product)



I also picked up the All Over Color Stick in Toffee to test it as a contour.



I also ordered a Baked Eyeshadow Palette in California.  I know people say that you can't really use these shades dry as they are extremely chalky and dry, but are perfect when wet.  I keep a spray bottle with water at my vanity, so this isn't a problem for me.  I still plan on testing it dry to see if it really is all that bad.  



And last, but not least is my freebie.  I got the 32 piece Geometric eyeshadow palette and a 12 piece brush set. 


A List of the Brushes

1801 Foundation Brush
1802 Eyelash and Brow Wand
1803 Blending Eye Brush 
1804 Total Face Brush 
1805 Bronzing Brush
1806 Lip Defining Brush
1807 Brow Comb and Brush
1808 Smudge Eye Sponge 
1809 Defining Eye Brush
1814 Eyeliner Brush
1815 Eyeshadow Brush
1821 Concealer Brush 

There are some really deals on their website coming up for the holidays so go check it out!! Their stuff is so cheap and would make perfect stocking stuffers or gifts for a make up loving secret Santa!!



Mini Drugstore Haul

Recently I had to go pick up a perscription for my daughter, and of course it wasn't ready when I got there...and I had been researching somethings I was interested in for the past couple of weeks and thought, while i'm here why not pick them up.

The first thing I grabbed was my old stand by mascara L'Oreal Paris Voluminous Mascara, as I was freshly out.  I love this mascara because it gives the perfect ammount of legnth and volume for everyday, and is very buildable to create drama for more "nighttime" eyes.

The next thing I grabbed was the baby lips in the original and "strike a rose" I had been seeing a lot of people in the beauty community comparing it to Fresh's Sugar Lips, which I absoulty adore and couldn't resist!!


I picked up a mini tin of Nivea cream, that I have been (GASP) using on my face.  I know most people use this cream for their hands, but in the winter my skin suffers from extreme dryness, especially around the eyes and nose, so I thought I would give it a shot.  If it was good enough for Marylin it's good enough for me!! **plus it was only a buck**

After I picked up a heavy duty moisturizer I thought I should top off the whole thing with a BB cream, I hadn't tried one yet and I wanted to soooo bad.  I know most American ones that I have read about are more or less compareable to a hyped up tinted moisturizer BUT, I still wanted to see what all the hype was about.  The best two drug store BB creams (from my online deduction) were the Garnier "All in One Skin Perfector" BB Cream and the Philosophy "Be Your Best" BB Cream.  Looking at the products itself I knew I was waaaaay too light for the Philosophy BB cream, so I went ahead and got the Garnier.  So far I have really loved it, it's not too heavy of a coverage and has a dewy finish when set with a powder.  I wouldn't use this for a full coverage, heavy duty, night on the town make up base, but it's perfect for everyday!!


The last product I picked up I had been looking at for the past few weeks, everytime I went into my local drugstore.  Finally I caved and got it.  It was the LA Girl Ombre Nail Polish set in Love Affair.  When I took it home, I wasn't expecting much for the quality of the product, but the glitter polish took me by surprise.  It was a pretty goodpay off after a few coats, and I like the whole ombre trend.

This time I mostly got products to prepare myself for extreme winter dryness, but that's why it was only a mini haul this time!! There will be more hauls to come!

oxox
-Mama Lish 


Friday, November 22, 2013

Ombré nail trend

The last few times I have been to walgreens this inexpensive little beauty catches my eye...it was only $5 so I had to try it.

Of course I am talking about the LA Girl Colors ombré nail polish sets.

I have been searching for a dupe to the New Black Nail polishes at sephora...I can't justify spending that much money for that little product. 

SOLUTION 
La Girl Colors set
I don't know if everyone can find these at walgreens (they are a holiday promotion), so I will add a link where you can purchase all of the sets online.

I have never used LA girl colors nail polishes before and I probably never will again...UNLESS i'm buying more of these sets.  I'm absolutely in love with this nail trend, and I even like the glitter accent nail.

Speaking of the glitter polish, that was THE best part about the whole set.  The glitter, like the other polishes goes on extremely thin, but that works to it's advantage in this case.  The consistency allows for the glitter to build up, but not be chunky like other glitter polishes.  

All of the colors are very thin and require at least 2 layers, in the photo I have posted I used three coats on my pinky finger and two on the rest.  These polishes have an average to fast drying time depending on how thin of layers you use.

Here is a quick run down of the pros and cons of this product:


Pro

Inexpensive
Comes with 5 colors plus a top coat
on trend
beautiful glitter polish 
glitter polish layers like a dream


Cons

Extremely small bottles of polish
set can only be used a few times
cheap top coat
need several layers of polish 

All in all I can say I would buy more of these sets if I saw them in stores, because who can honestly say they would turn down a perfectly coordinated ombre nail set for $5!! 

Here's the link I promised for the people who can't find it in stores!!


oxox
-Mama Lish

Fresh Sugar Lips vs Maybelline Baby Lips

I keep seeing people comparing these two products!!! I had been looking for a cheaper version of the most amazing lip balm I have ever used!!!


I got the original and rose Sugar Lips as my Sephora birthday gift last year and I fell in love.  The original is hydrating and moisturizing AND has the best smell ever.  It just makes you wan to eat it right off of your lips.  The rose has the perfect tint for my lips and gives me that extra oomph on the days that I felt a little down and out (and as a new mom that was quiet often)


When I ran out of these samples I went to sephora.com to purchase a full size tube of Rose...it was $22.50!! I couldn't justify spending that much money on a lip balm, no matter how amazing it is.  

That is when I started my quest, looking for the perfect inexpensive lip balm.  I tried chapstick, EOS and blistex and even tried going back to my old stand by of burt's bees pomegranate.  Nothing was as smooth and luxurious to apply.  I started searching online for a dupe and I kept seeing people comparing baby lips.
While the packaging may be cheap looking and plastic the product itself is amazing (even if it doesn't have SPF)  It's just as wonderful on your lips, especially since they are only $4. I got mine on a buy one get one half off, so I only spent $6 for the both of them!!  

I bought the original and the Electro lips Strike a Rose.  I was a little disappointed by the color...it wasn't the shade I was looking for.  I have mostly seen the Sugar Lips Rose compared to the color Cherry Me, which is next on my purchase list.

All and all I would defiantly buy the original again!! Good dupe, especially if you can get one for the buy one get one off deal!  Go forth lovers of lip products and go get your baby lips on!!

xoxo
-Mama Lish

Photos are not my own and are taken from websites listed as a links


First Beauty Blog Post

This is my first beauty blog post ever!! Lol I know that is a little silly to post, but I am very excited.

I have been highly interested in make up since my aunt started painting my face when I was three.  My love for make up continued at my Grandma's house, she is only typical for her love of QVC
and all things high quality.  She helped me discover my tastes in make up, in that she always had something new for me to play with and try.  If I liked it I got to take it home.  This went for make up, skin, and hair care products.  I even got my first set of brushes from her.

Shortly after I started playing with make up more, the "bare minerals" craze started.  My grandma, mom, aunt and every other woman in my life started using this line.  My mom had an on going subscription with bare minerals, even though she only wore it maybe twice a year.  Lets just say I got a lot of extras from her.

I quickly developed a high end taste in make up and started watching all types of make up tutorials on youtube.  I loved every eyeshadow urban decay had to offer and insisted on getting my hands on all of the benefit box blushes that I could.

Now I am out of high school, and my mom's house by a few years, I can no longer afford to be so frivolous with my make up purchases, but that hasn't killed my love of make up artistry.  I have embraced some drug store products and look to find the best products via internet search.  Now all of my purchases are highly researched and with starting my new blog can be reviewed!!


Look forward to my first review via blog and video

My Youtube channel is MartianMakeUp http://www.youtube.com/user/MartianMakeUp

I look forward to seeing you all there

xoxo
Mama Lish