Review: ELF Studio Eyebrow Kits

Today's post is bringing you a review of some products from ELF, their Studio Eyebrow Kits. I have a big problem finding brow products that work for me, because they all seem too show up too warm/red on me. For reference, I have medium brown hair, and I usually tend to go for lighter brow products just in case it ends up looking unnatural.

My brows do not need much filling in; they aren't very sparse and the shape is fine so I don't really do a lot with them. But I also like to find a product to use, just so they look a little more finished. 

So once I found these on ELF's website, I was torn with what colour to go for, since it is sort of hard to judge on the website. I ended up choosing two colours: Ash, which is kind of a neutral one for blonds/light brown hair, and light, for light/medium brown hair. 

For size reference, the compact of these are the same size as one of their Studio Blushes. 

Let's take a closer look at these, shall we?

This is the brush they come with. The brush side is for applying the powder, and the angled brush is for applying the wax. You're supposed to apply the wax, and then put the powder on top.

So the first one I have is Ash, which is the light, neutral one. 

So on the left is the wax, which helps smooth your brows in place, and then the right has a powder to set everything. Ash is cool toned, so it will suit any skin tone. 

Here's the swatch with the wax on the left, and powder on the right. Obviously, the powder doesn't really show up, and the wax is a little sheerer, but you really wouldn't want it any darker than that.

The second one I got is Light, which is the one I use the most often, because it just fits my brow colour better. 

As you can see, this one is a little darker, but what I love about this is that it doesn't pull warm on me.

Formula wise, both the wax and powder apply smoothly and last a long time. I am very pleased with these, and I highly recommend them!

Thanks for reading,

Melissa

Review: The Balm NudeTude Palette with Photos and Swatches

TheBalm NudeTude Palette

Hey everyone!

Today's post is of a palette that is quite raved about in the beauty community for being a great palette for neutral shadow lovers out there- theBalm's NudeTude palette. I love neutral eyeshadows. I own both of the Naked Palettes from Urban Decay, and since I had never tried anything from theBalm, I figured this would be a good first thing to try since it has gotten such great reviews. 

I've wanted to order this for a while now, but I waited until the brand went on sale on Hautelook, so I got this palette for 50% off ($18 instead of $36). The only downside to ordering this on Hautelook was that it took quite a while to be delivered (three weeks or so).

So today, I will be showing you guys what the palette contains and a description of each of the shades. The palette comes in thin cardboard packaging, which I just leave off most of the time. It comes with twelve shadows, and a double ended brush. 

One side of the brush has a eyeliner brush, and the other side has an angled shadow brush.

And this is the back of the palette:

So let's take a closer look at those eyeshadows, shall we?

Top Row (from L-R): Sassy, Stubborn, Selfish, Sophisticated, Sexy, Serious

Bottom Row (from L-R): Snobby, Stand-offish, Sultry, Seductive, Silly, Sleek

They're so pretty! I like the layout of this palette- six lighter shades on the left, and then the six darker ones on the left. I also think all the names are really cute.

There are two types of the palette available if you order off theBalm's website, Naughty and Nice. They both have the same shadows in them. Naughty was the only one available on Hautelook, so that's the one I have. Some may find it a little risque, but I don't really care. 

Top (from L-R): Sassy, Stubborn, Selfish

Bottom (from L-R): Snobby, Stand-offish, Sultry

(L-R): Sassy, Snobby, Stubborn, Stand-offish, Selfish, Sultry

1. Sassy: I think this was supposed to be the intended "highlight shade" of the bunch, but on my pale skintone, this shade is just too shimmery. Sassy is an super shimmery white shade, which, if it leaned a little more pink, would be perfect for highlighting for me.

2. Stubborn: I have a feeling that Stubborn is going to be a much loved shade for me in this palette. I love shades that lean pink, but aren't super warm. Stubborn is another shimmery (but not shimmery) shade. It's more pink than Stand-offish.

3. Selfish: This will most likely be my favourite shade of the palette, from what I used so far. I absolutely love taupe shades because they are not too brown that they look orangey on my skin. This shade especially has enough gray in it that it looks stunning on the skin. Love love love. This is also a shimmer.

4. Snobby: I do not think I will be getting much use at all out of this one, unfortunately. It's just really not my colour at all, it's too yellow. Snobby is medium toned yellow gold shimmer.

5 Stand-offish: This shade is the same finish as Stubborn, but it is lighter and leans less pink (more peach). It is very similar to Urban Decay's Sin, and since I love that shade, I know I'll love this one too!

6. Sultry: Sultry is a warm matte (bordering on satin) brown. Darker than Urban Decay's Naked. 

Top Row (from L-R): Sophisticated, Sexy, Serious

Bottom Row (from L-R): Seductive, Silly, Sleek

(L-R): Sophisticated, Seductive, Sexy, Silly, Serious, Sleek

7. Sophisticated: This one is a dark brown with gold undertones, and some bronze shimmer. It's absolutely stunning, and I am very excited to get a lot of use out of this one. In terms of finish, it has more visible shimmer than Stand-offish, Stubborn, Snobby and Selfish. It is somewhat similar to Urban Decay's Darkhorse.

8. Sexy: Sexy is a matte burgundy with plum tones in it. It's a little more red than Urban Decay's Busted. It has a very smooth texture, but not chalky. 

9. Serious: A plain matte black. It has pretty good pigmentation for such a dark shade, but it could be a little bit darker.

10. Seductive: This shade used to be called Schitzo in the old versions of the palette, not sure why they changed it. It is a warm golden brown, with a pearl finish.

11. Silly: Silly is a red toned brown with copper shimmer. This shade was the only one that had an issue with finish. It has fairly bad fall out, and the pigmentation isn't up to par with the rest of the shades.

12. Sleek: A matte dark brown. Very similar to Urban Decay's Backdoor. It has very good colour payoff.

In terms of colour payoff, the mattes were all very smooth and buttery, which is very impressive. With the exception of Silly, all the rest of the shimmery shades applied evenly with a buttery texture. I'm a little disappointed with the texture of Silly, but every palette has to have one not so good shade, right? The pigmentation of these was excellent, and I am very impressed with the quality of these shadows. For $34, it's a more reasonable alternative to the Urban Decay Naked Palettes.

The packaging on this is very sturdy, with a magnet strong enough to keep the cardboard palette shut. It also has a full length mirror.

All in all, I am very pleased with my first product from theBalm, and I will definitely be trying more!

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

Review: ELF Long Lasting Lustrous Eyeshadow in Soiree

So in my most recent ELF order, one item that caught my eye were the Long Lasting Lustrous Eyeshadows. The way the texture was described caught my interest, so I decided to go ahead and order one. 

The shade I picked was Soiree, which is a warm shimmery plum shade, with silver glitter. It's absolutely gorgeous, and I'm quite pleased with it, seeing as shades are sometimes hard to see what they will actually look like when you view them on ELF's website. 

I am actually in love with this line of eyeshadows. I will definitely be ordering more the next time I make an order. Let's take a look at why I like these so much shall we?

1. Texture: The texture of these is quite strange. They are like a mousse texture; they're spongy, but they're also fluffy and light. I apply this just by patting my finger on top of it a couple of times, I don't have to physically scoop out product. The texture is similar to the Maybelline Dream Mousse Concealers and Blushes. 

2. Colour: This is the main reason I love this so much. You know how when an eyeshadow has like visible glitter in it in the pan, but when you actually put it on your lid, the glitter sort of disappears? This doesn't happen with this. The texture makes sure that the glitter stays. 

The colour is also super rich and pigmented, and glossy/shiny. 

Stunning. 

3. Staying Power: These stay all day without creasing when you wear a primer. I cannot vouch for how they stay without a primer. 

4. Price: All of ELF's products are very reasonably priced, but I think for the quality you're getting with these, $3 is a steal.

All in all, I am very pleased with these shadows. I will definitely getting some more! If you haven't tried them yet, I recommend you do! They make a great "one shadow" look because of how much dimension they have.

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

Review: Maybelline Master Drama Cream Pencil in Taupe Takeover

Hi everyone!

If you haven't already, feel free to pop over to my last post to take my reader survey. It will help me to see what you guys want to see more of (or even less of)!

But anyway, into the review! A couple of posts back, I reviewed the Maybelline Master Drama pencil in Midnight Master, which the plain black of the line. Today I'm reviewing the one in Taupe Takeover. This was released with Maybelline's Summer Collection, which for some reason, is still in drugstores around me.

 

I bought this for the main purpose on smudging it under my waterline on my lower eyelid. I figured it would be a nice pop of shimmer underneath the black. 

This is a twist up liner, so you don't have to sharpen it. One thing I will mention: once you twist it up, you can't twist it back down. 

This liner claims to have creamy glide, bold colour and 24 hour wear. Let's take a look to see if it lives up to that!

1. Creamy Glide: Yes! This is one of the smoothest liners I have tried. It glides on with such creaminess, it's almost a pleasure to put on in the morning. It's not like one of those liners that almost hurts to apply, because it scratches. 

2. Bold Colour: This liner is about as bold as a taupe can be. Obviously it's not one of the deepest darkest colours around, but it's not supposed to be.

3. 24 Hour Wear: Since I only wear this below my waterline, I can't vouch for the staying power of this on the waterline. I imagine that it would be the same as the black one from this line, which didn't stay 24 hours. This one does stay on quite a while on the eye lid, though. 

This is smudgeproof, but not waterproof. It will run if you go swimming (or cry). 

All in all, I like this liner, but not as much as the black one. I don't find myself reaching for this one quite as often, because if I want a pop of shimmer on my lower lid, I'll usually just reach for an eyeshadow. This isn't a necessity for me. 

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

Review: Maybelline Master Drama Cream Pencil in Midnight Master

So I recently picked up two of the cream pencil liners from Maybelline's Master Drama line. I've been a big fan of the liquid liner from the line for a while now, and after receiving lots of recommendations for this liner, I thought I would pick up a couple of shades. 

The other one I picked up is in 'Taupe Takeover', which I'll be reviewing soon. That shade was part of Maybelline's Summer collection, which is still available in some drugstores.

But the one I'll be reviewing for you here today is the one in Midnight Master, which is the classic black of the line. I wear black pencil liner every day on my water line, so I figured I would give this one a whirl after hearing good things about how creamy it was. 

This is a twist up liner, so you don't have to sharpen it. One thing I will mention: once you twist it up, you can't twist it back down. 

This liner claims to have "creamy glide, bold colour, and 24 hr wear." Let's see if it lives up to these claims!

1. Creamy Glide: Yes! This is one of the smoothest liners I have tried. It glides on with such creaminess, it's almost a pleasure to put on in the morning. It's not like one of those liners that almost hurts to apply, because it scratches. 

2. Bold Colour: This is the number one reason I love this eye liner so much. It's no secret that a lot of black liners do not show up with intensity on your waterline, without really having to work at building up the colour. This liner glides on with rich, dark black in one swipe. I love it!

THAT'S ONE SWIPE. 

3. 24 hour wear: This is where we lose some points. Now I must say, I can only vouch for the staying power of this on the waterline, and I know that liners do not last as long on the waterline as they do on the eyelid. This does not last 24 hours on my waterline. It doesn't even last five. But I do believe it will last much longer on the eyelid. 

It also says this liner is smudge proof, which, once it sets, I have proven to be true. However, it is not waterproof! It will run if you cry or go swimming or something. 

Anyway, all in all, I would highly recommend this if you're looking for a rich black liner. I absolutely love it, and it will definitely become a staple in my collection! It's so much cheaper than my Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Perversion, that's for sure!

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

Review: Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Coral Reef

Today's review is of a lip gloss from Revlon, one of their Super Lustrous lip glosses in Coral Reef. Now Revlon has recently repackaged and reformulated the Super Lustrous lip glosses, but this is one of the old shades, which are still being sold. 

The formula for this gloss is probably the best I've ever had from a lip gloss. I shouldn't be surprised though; I've heard many people rave about these glosses. It's thick, but not too sticky, and it gives off a high shine. The pigmentation is great too.

In the tube, Coral Reef looks like more of a coral that leans quite pink, but when it's swatched and on the lips, it comes off much more like a true coral. 

The colour is still gorgeous though, and it's one I'm going to be using a lot this summer! I highly recommend checking out the Super Lustrous glosses.

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

Review: Revlon Lip Butter in Juicy Papaya

Today's review is of another Revlon lip butter, Juicy Papaya. This was released as part of Revlon's summer collection. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get this when that collection came out, because all of them sold out too quickly. 

However, Juicy Papaya and the other three lip butters that were released with the collection have been made of Revlon's permanent Lip Butter collection. So if you missed out on the summer collection, like I did, don't worry, because you can still find them!

Juicy Papaya was the only one I really wanted out of the four new lip butters, the other three being Sorbet, Wild Watermelon, and Pink Lemonade. 

Juicy Papaya is a gorgeous coral colour which is coming off more orange than it actually is in the picture above. Imagine that shade, just with more pink tones. 

When swatched, it does come off quite orange, but on the lips, it looks a little different. I read some blogger's reviews who said that it came off more pink on their light coloured lips, but since my lips are pretty pigmented, it came off as more of a true coral on me. 

I have been so into corals for the summer, I have coral lip products, nail polish, clothes, eyeshadow, blush, you name it. 

As with other lip butters, the formula of this is moisturising, smooth, and shiny. This is a little sheerer than other lip butters, though. 

This is a couple of swipes of product so you can sort of see that it's sheerer than other colours in the line. 

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

Review: ELF Studio Blush in Candid Coral

Today's review is of a blush from ELF that I have worn every single day since I got it without fail. I've been really into coral colours for summer, and this blush is no exception.

ELF's studio blushes are quite popular, as they are very inexpensive but very good quality. That doesn't change with Candid Coral.

Candid Coral is a beautiful corally pink with golden shimmer. It adds such a beautiful glow to your face, but doesn't make you look like a disco ball!

You can see the glitter (yes, it isn't a fine shimmer, it is glitter) in the pan, but when you swatch it, it sort of disappears. That being said, it is visible on your face when you are in light, but it looks so pretty that I don't mind it.

The texture of this is a tiny bit chalky, but it doesn't dry your face out. It does have a matte appearance despite being so shimmery. So don't worry, you oily skinned people, the shimmer in this won't make you get oilier faster.

Overall, I am thrilled with this blush and intend to wear it for a very long time!

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

Review: Maybelline Color Tattoo in Seashore Frosts

This eyeshadow was literally the most elusive eyeshadow I have ever had to deal with. As soon as reviews of this started hitting the blogosphere, I started keeping my eyes out for it in stores. It was about three weeks before I spotted Maybelline's Summer collection display at Shoppers Drug Mart. They had the other Color Tattoo shades, but not this one. This is the only one I wanted; it was the most hyped about. So I called all drugstores in my city and they all had a similar story- that they had received this collection and Seashore Frosts had sold out quickly, and that they weren't getting anymore in. So I turned to the internet. After lots of searching, I finally found this sucker (brand new) on ebay. After paying twice the price and a week a waiting, this bad boy finally arrived. 

Seashore Frosts is probably the most talked about colour for the summer. It is a gorgeous duochrome blue-gold-green shade. It was so worth the wait. 

In the picture above, you can see more of the gold with a hint of blue, but in the next picture, I tried to capture more of the blue. 

See how pretty it is?

Formula wise, it isn't the greatest. It isn't as long wearing as the color's in the rest of the line. And the main issue I have with this shade is that it isn't that buildable. It doesn't pack a huge punch on the eyelid with just one layer, but when you try to add more, it won't spread easily. The duochrome sort of translates onto the lid, but I wish I could build it up more. 

Here's some swatches of this shade. I tried my best to capture the duochrome, but it is sort of difficult to get on camera. 

You can sort of see here the gold turning into the blue.

And this picture here is more gold, while the one after is more blue.

All in all, I highly recommend checking this color out. It's so unique, and it really isn't too vibrant on the eye, so it can look natural.

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

Review: Maybelline Master Duo Liquid Liner in Black Lacquer

I bought this liner after my Line Stiletto liner (also from Maybelline) dried up. I had heard good things about this liner, so I thought I would give it a shot. However, I had heard that only the black colour was good; that the blue, purple, etc were too watery. But I would only go for black anyway, so that wasn't an issue.

There were only a couple of shades available. There was a black, but it only came in one form (no "black", "very black", or "blackest black"), Black Lacquer. There was also a blue and a violet, and maybe one other colour? I'm not too sure. 

Unfortunately, this wasn't on sale when I bought it, but I was desperate, so I paid the full $13 bucks for it. That's a little outrageous for a drugstore liner, but oh well.

I really like the bottle of this. It's sleek looking. It's in the inkwell format, which a lot of other liners are in too. You screw of the top and the brush is attached to the lid.

The concept for this liner is pretty cool. It's meant to be a double liner (hence the name duo liner). One side of the brush is flat, and using that side, you are able to get a thick line on your eyelid. But when you rotate the wand 90 degrees, you are able to get a thin line. It's super easy to do winged liner with this!

This is the thick side of the brush.

And this is the thin side!

The formula for this is pretty good. It isn't thin or watery and it glides on pretty easily. I don't find myself having to go over a second time to get a rich black line. As with most liquid liners, you do have to shake it before use. 

The only issue I have with this is getting it off at night time. It's really tricky to remove, and it takes quite a bit of effort. 

Here a swatch to show the difference between the thin line and the thick line. 

Final Verdict:

Honestly, I don't like this liner as much as I like my Line Stiletto liquid liner. The Line Stiletto is easier to remove than this one.

This is a good liner, it's just not my favourite. 

I find the brush slightly awkward and it's sort of difficult to get an even line. It was much easier with the Line Stiletto.

This is a cool concept though, but I do recommend it for people with more experience applying liquid liner.

I will say though, that the formula on this one is very good. No complaints there.

Thanks for reading!!

Melissa