e.l.f. Aqua Beauty Blush & Bronzer!

e.l.f. Cosmetics Aqua Beauty Blush & Bronzer! $6

I’ve said it before and I will say it again…e.l.f. Cosmetics is hands down one of my all-time fave drugstore makeup brands! This new product caught my eye the other day and I just had to have it (I know ya’ll know the feeling). I get excited whenever I see any new e.l.f.products come out and because of the affordable price point, I usually don’t have to second guess purchasing it even it’s just for curiosity’s sake.

The blush and bronzer duo that I’m featuring today is part of e.l.f.’s Aqua Beauty line, which includes a new mist primer, liquid eyeshadows and lipstains that you can check out here!

This blush & bronzer duo comes in 3 different shade combos. The one I bought was Bronzed Violet. The new teal packaging of these products mixed in with the black and white packaging of the other e.l.f. products caught my attention right away, but what really kept my attention was the super bright hot pink shade of the blush! I mean look at it! That is one heck of a pink! Check out the rest of the shades here.

Quick facts about the product:
-Super creamy formula. The texture and feel of the product is similar to how Colour Pop products feel.

-The packaging says that this “cushiony color” is “infused with purified water and vitamin E.”  Fancy!

-The directions recommend applying this product with your fingertips or a small stipple brush. I found that using my fingers to swatch this product worked well, but I would recommend a small stipple brush when applying to your cheeks to blend.

-Definitely has a dewy, hydrating finish when swatched.

-A very important thing to note… after this product dries on your skin, it stays put. I tried smearing the product after swatching it on my wrists once it dried and it didn’t smudge away at all. Impressive staying power! However, this also means that you have to blend it right away to the amount of sheerness you want before it dries, or it will be difficult to fix after the fact.

Swatches!

Overall, I thought this product swatched very nicely! The product is easy to apply and is blendable. The pigmentation applies on lightly at first but is buildable, as promised on the packaging. There is a light shimmer in the shades as well which gives the product a dewy & hydrated look.

Here are some swatches on 2 different skintones. Overall, the brightness of the pink definitely toned down once applied to both skintones. This shade looked like a bubblegum pink on a lighter skin tone and rosey pink with hints of coral on the tanner skintone. The bronzer, which looked like a dark chocolate shade in the pan, applied on as lighter tan shade on both skintones. The color is buildable and you can add more layers of both for a more intense or bright look.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with this purchase and will definitely be checking out more of Elf’s Aqua Beauty products! Even though this shade of blush is a little darker and brighter than I typically use for my tanner skintone, the product blends out nicely and gives a sheer, flushed look when I apply just a little bit of product to the apples of my cheeks. The bronzer works well to use as a cream contour shade for my skin tone.

Have you tried this product?? What are your thoughts??

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Absolute New York Matte Lipstick Review!

Hi everyone! I received this little beauty in my November Ipsy Glam Bag! As I do every month, I’ll be posting my first impressions of everything I received in my Glam Bag soon!  But in the meantime, I wanted to share a quick review and some swatches of Absolute New York Cosmetic’s Matte Stick in Dark Red. This is the first time I’ve tried any products from this brand…actually now that I think about it, this is the first time I’ve ever heard of this brand before!  As soon as I opened this lipstick and swatched it, it easily became the MVP and highlight of my November Ipsy bag.

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The name of this shade gets right to the point- Dark Red. If I could rename this shade I’d name it Snow White Kiss, Candy Apple Red, or Rudolf… ok so maybe I shouldn’t quit my dayjob and become a make up shade namer. But really, if you wanted my opinion, I think this is more a bright red than it is a dark red.

One of my favorite things about this lipstick is that it is super creamy and feels soft and silky on the lips. This matte lipstick didn’t make my lips feel overly dry like matte liquid lipsticks tend to do. It doesn’t necessarily feel hydrating, but definitely not drying. This lipstick has a slightly shiny finish at first, and then dries matte.

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Here is this lipstick swatched on 2 different skin tones! As you can see from the swatches below, the pigmentation of the shade is thick enough that it stays a true beautiful red shade on both skin tones. On my tan-ish skin tone, the shade looks like a darker hued hot pink when the light hits it in certain angles. But overall, this shade stays a true red!

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As far as how long this lipstick lasts, I tried to blot it away on the back of my hand and after 4 or 5 pats, my lipstick print on the back of my hand started getting lighter and lighter, but surprisingly, the shade still looked bright on my lips. Even though the shade stayed on my lips, it is definitely NOT smear proof. A couple of good rubs and the lipstick turned into a hot mess. I don’t anticipate this lipstick to stay put during a meal. When it was time to take this lipstick off, I tried my very hardest to wipe it off with a tissue and the shade noticeably stained my lips and I was left with a light pink tint.

Overall, I was super impressed with this lipstick! Because this lipstick is such good quality, I assumed that this would be around $30. To my surprise, this lipstick is only $4.99! And there are 18 shades to choose from! Check em out here!

Have you tried this lipstick? Let me know what you think!!

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Lip Product That Lasts Up to 18 Hours?? I Put That to the Test!

Yup! A lip color that is said to last anywhere from 4-18 hours! Dream come true or just wishful thinking?

Here is my review of Lipsense Liquid Lipstick in shade Praline Rose! ($25)

This product was sent to me by The Lipstick Guru! Check out her website and IG page for more Lipsense products!

I wanted to share with you all a breakdown of my first day using Lipsense to show how this product lasted throughout a typical day. Here we go!

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November 6th 2016!

10AM: First Impression! Woke up on this beautiful Sunday morning sans alarm clocks (gotta love that feeling) and got ready for the day!  I applied 3 layers of the Lipsense color, waiting 3-5 seconds in between each layer to let it dry, as advised on the directions. Not gonna lie, when I first read that I need to apply 3 layers and wait for them to dry in between applications, the impatient lazy girl in me cringed a little. But 3-5 seconds goes quick and the layers dry fast! Heres a swatch of 1 layer of shade on my wrist. You can see how light the formula is. Notice the lovely, subtle shimmer as well.

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The formula felt watery & light when I applied it and immediately made my lips feel sticky. On a random note, I thought that it smelled really good!  Warning- the first layer definitely stings when you apply it.  The stinging feeling is similar to how it feels when you use a lip plumper. The stinging stopped when I applied the next 2 layers. With each layer I could feel the product cling onto my lips and sink into every crevice and fine line. It felt like the product was actually seeping into my lips instead of just layering on top of it. And finally, after the 3 layers of color, I sealed the lip color with the clear glossy gloss ($20).

10:01AM: Praline Rose in particular matched my natural lipcolor almost to the tee. The shade of the lipstick looked matte and dry by itself and then looked glossy after applying the clear gloss top coat. Little traces of sparkle shined in the lipcolor which I really liked. One thing is that I had to get used to was the way the product made my lips feeling so dry and sticky.

See the swatches below of the Praline Rose under inside light and under natural light!

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11AM- Coffee and Breakfast at Starbucks! See my lipstick mark on my Pumpkin Spice Latte? Me either! I was extremely impressed at the staying power and that I didn’t see any trace of my lipcolor on my cup or on my sandwich while I ate. I typically avoid putting on lipstick or lipgloss if I know I’m going to be eating soon or I have to spend a couple minutes blotting my lipstick away on a napkin before eating a meal. So overall, the fact that the lipcolor stayed where it should (on my lips) even after drinking and eating was super exciting to me.

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1PM/2PM:   In between grocery shopping, running errands, and basic adulting, I checked a mirror and noticed that the lip color was slightly faded in the inner parts of my lips. Not noticeably, just enough for me to notice if I was really paying attention. But overall, the lipcolor was still in tact.

4PMish: Wasn’t hungry for lunch this day so I snacked on a granola bar & triscuits and checked my lipcolor after. By this point, my lipcolor was noticeably faced in the inner parts of my lips. I tried rubbing my lips with my hand to see if the rest of the color would smear, and it stayed put! I also noticed that the lip color was less shiny as it was before.

5PM:  The product completely disappeared in the inner part of my lips and only a ring of color on the outline of my lips was still there.

7PM:  After dinner, the lipcolor was completely gone.

Overall thoughts:

This lipcolor is said to last anywhere from 4-18 hours. I can personally vouch for the first 4 hours. Overall I was impressed to find a lipstick that lasts through a meal without having to reapply, which immediately categorized this product as a winner… even if it didn’t last the entire 18 hours.

The day that I wrote about in this post was a pretty light eating day (very rare for me), so this may have been a reason the color lasted as long as it did. I wore Lipsense today to a party where I ate (a lot), and after about an hour or two, I felt the lipcolor flaking off my lips.

Long story short…. Lipsense has impressed me enough that I will most definitely be purchasing more products! I’ve found it pretty difficult to find a lipstick that stays put throughout the day without reapplying, even with lipcolors that are said to be “long lasting”. Each lipcolor is $25, which is typically a little more than I spend on lipstick. But, the fact that I can eat and drink without worrying that my lipstick is going to get everywhere, makes it easy for me to justify the cost. Praline Rose is a subtle shade against my skintone and natural lipcolor, so I am looking forward to trying more shades!

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Let me know what you think! Have you tried Lipsense before? How long has the product lasted for you? What are your favorite shades?

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Perfect Drugstore Palette for Daytime to Nighttime!

Wet n Wild 10 Pan Studio Eye Shadow Palette in Quartz Center $6.99

There’s something so nostalgic for me when I think of Wet n Wild. I remember their 99 cent lip gloss and nail polish that I used to love as a kid! And here I am, at 27 years old, revisiting one of the very first makeup brands that I ever tried in my life, and finding that I still love it! With an exception of their Glitter Eyeshadow (see one of my previous posts with my open letter to this eye shadow explaining how disappointed I was with it and that it just was not going to work out between us), every Wet n Wild product that I’ve tried lately has received a major thumbs up from me. This palette below is no exception!

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Swatches:  Natural light (in the shade) vs in direct sunlight

My favorite part about this palette is that the colors range from lighter daytime shades to dark sultry shades, which makes it just as perfect for spring/summer as it is for fall/winter!

On the lighter end of the palette, you get 2 shimmery lighter neutral colors, plus 3 different variations of purple. On the darker end of the palette, you get 1 chocolately brown, and 4 variations of sparkly grays. The one thing I will point out is that the 4 shades of gray are very similar to one another.

The pigmentation and color payout of these eye shadows is pretty impressive. Check out the gorgeous swatches below! These swatches were applied by using my fingers.

In natural light (in the shade), the eye shadows look matte with a little bit of sparkle. In direct sunlight, you can really see the multi colored glitter flecks mixed in throughout the shades. You can also see that the colors change depending on the light source both in the pan and swatched on my arm.

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Overall I highly recommend this palette! There is also a neutral version of this palette, Coming in Latte. We can only hope that Wet n Wild will come out with more palettes with additional colors! Palettes like these are perfect for traveling because it is super compact and lightweight and you get a range of  light to dark shadows in 1 palette!

Let me know what you think! Have you tried this palette?

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Wet n Wild Color Icon Glitter Singles

Dear Wet N Wild Color Icon Singles,

You were so enticing in the store, looking stunningly glittery in the pan. Apparently I am easily distracted by pretty little sparkly things, and with you being a pretty little sparkly thing for only 99 cents? I couldn’t really pass you up now could I? I mean, look at you!!

Please note that even though I’m speaking specifically to the Brass shade (pictured below), this could easily be applicable to all 7 of your shades– yes including the red, purple, pink, blue, white and silver shades!

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The Wet n Wild website had wonderful things to say about you! Crease resistant, no fallout, infused with aloe and coconut oil, moisturizing, easy to apply, long wearing… all super positive things!

All I wanted was to try the glitter trend I’ve been seeing all over Instagram and Youtube, and sadly, looks like I won’t be able to try this trend with you. Overall, you were not at all what I expected after I first swatched you on my wrist.

In the pan, your solid brick of glitter looked absolutely gorgeous. But when I swatched you on my wrist, it looked like a clear base layer with random clumps of glitter…a messy flurry of gold, white, silver, and bronze glitter flakes on top of a sticky layer of clear film. Your glitter flakes were very difficult to spread evenly. I had some luck applying this product with my finger, and had absolutely zero luck trying to apply it with a brush.

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One of the biggest things that worries me about you, is that there is so much fallout, which means your beautiful glittery particles could easily make their way inside my eyes and potentially scratch them- ouch!!

Wet n Wild Color Icon Glitter Single, I feel like I’ve been a little harsh, but I promise I won’t completely count you out. With Halloween and the Holidays coming up, adding a little bit of sparkle and glitter to my makeup looks would be really fun! If I applied you with some type of adhesive like glitter glue or a thin layer of eyelash glue, this could help you stick to my eyelids better!

I also made the mistake of assuming that I could use you a solid glitter eye shadow, when it looks like you would be better layered on top of a base eye shadow instead!

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Overall, for 99 cents, I don’t regret purchasing you. I’ve seen a few beauty gurus use all of your shades in their make looks, and they look gorgeous!  With a little extra effort and a little creativity, I think I could make you work! 😉

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See the glitter trend in action below:

Vogue-10 Make Up Trends for Fall/Winter 2016-2017

Marie Claire-Summer Makeup Trends 2016

You Tube Tutorials using this product:

 

Check out a couple of my favorite metallic/glittery eye shadow shades:

ColourPop Eye Shadow in Get Lucky. ($5)

Colourpop Eye Shadow in Nillionaire. ($5)

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