E.L.F. Haul

Last week I ordered my first set of makeup from ELF. I've known about ELF for a few years now but never purchased anything before.... until now =) I only paid about $26 for all the items posted! The cool thing about ELF products is they are fairly cheap as many of the items were only $1! Also, they were having a special promotion so all 8 of the nail polishes were FREE! I love free things, don't you?

my entire order

Eye primer. liquid eye liner, face primer, lashes, brow stencil

polish [I got for FREE]

(l-r) Dark Navy, Metal Madness, Champagne, Coral, Party Peach,
Gum Pink, Smoking Red. Medium Red

 

polish swatches [from R to L of the colors listed above]

100 eye shadow palette

 

 

Likes
I love the nail polish.. I'm currently wearing Metal Madness, its dark but not Gothic looking... has a glimmer to it. and I LOVE that the polish push is wide, no need to


Dislikes
eye shadow- I don't like how the shadows are very dusty, it easily spreads onto the next color when I rub the brush onto a specific color.

Eye primer- I was hoping this would apply like a cream but its more of dusty/mineral primer. At least that's what it looks like when I apply it.

eye brow stencil- both my roommate and I tried using the stencil with some difficulty. I'm guessing it works best when someone else is styling your eye brows for you as opposed to you attempting to do them yourself.


Do any of you ladies wear ELF? Which products do you like best??

My first ULTA order ♥

From reading blogs and watching countless YouTube videos I've learned about a few different products that are pretty popular. China Glaze and OPI are usually the top 2 nail polish brands I hear about and until now I never owned any! But i saw a coupon in a sunday paper for the ULTA.com and couldnt help buy check out the site and order some stuff. I got 3 China Glaze polishes and 2 NYX lipsticks

[l-r] Admire, 108 Degrees, Peachy Keen

I wore Peachy Keen first, but didn't take any pics of it.
Its a cute color... almost like a bright neon yellow-orange mix,
but not soo neon... if that even makes sense.

This week I'm wearing Admire; its a metallic purple- super cute

NYX lipstick #621- Milan  #603-tea

Recent Shopping Trip... [pic heavy]

There is nothing like a little retail therapy to make any girl feel better! Earlier this week and about 2 weeks ago I did a little shopping... got things that I needed [ church dresses, bathing suit] and some cute summer clothes and accessories ...

... clothes ...

blue and white/cream strip dress.. its almost like a
zebra print pattern [which i LOVE]

this dress is knee length but you can't really tell from this picture

A cute and simple button up white shirt

this is a stripped tank; lime green -n- grey

wine color dress... perfect for church

zebra wallet ♥ I could not

pass this baby up when I saw it at walmart

floral print tank- Target

zebra print swimsuit [AHHHHH =)]

its a cute olive color 

This is the first maxi dress I've ever owned (a little shocking I know)

cute short-shorts. didn't realize it until my sister-n-law

pointed it out but these shorts match the floral tank

 ... make-up ...

The green palette is the first wet-n-wild eye shadow I've used.

I LOVE these Revlon creme palettes

... Accessories...

the flowers are teal color I found a ring in the same color

I LOVE silver jewelry and roses soo this
was the perfect combo

 found this at Kohl's; wore it when I
went to a 'tea' event at church

matches the above earrings

these rings came as a set

so that's the result of a few shopping ventures I've made in the last month... no more until like June or July! LOL

Glamourlicious Giveaway Prizes =)

Last Thursday I got my lovely gifts from Tara's [at Galmourlicious] Giveaway! My mom say the package and immediately asked "what have your ordered now" LOL... I loved all of the items in my package. Thanks Tara for writing the personalized note... My mom is getting a lot better. From time to time things get stressful, but nothing like it was for me us in the summer months. But back to the giveaway prizes; I loved everything!!! Here's some pics of all the items =)

a cute pink clutch; I chose this from Tara's blog sale page

2 bangles; one is silver the other is gold

[the flash makes it hard to see them]

3 pairs of earrings... all 3 are super cute and fit my style! =)

a leopard print painted cup.. not sure what i will put in here yet

on the inside at the bottom it said "Be you"

here are all the items [and the letter in front] that Tara sent me.

Mid October Haul

I worked extra hours the past few weeks and I swear I got "spending happy" Haven't been shopping in the longest time so I went to Ross which is by my house. I gave myself a budget of $40, and over spent.. BUT I got nice things. I noticed this day that my shopping habits have changed, and my style has changed as well. I looked around in various departments; shoes, women's, juniors, etc... I actually tried clothes one BEFORE buying.. which I wouldn't do 2 yrs ago! Anything that just did not work, didn't get bought! If I truly didn't need it of felt like I would wear it multiple times it was put back on the rack. So here's my lil haul of what I purchased.

Clothes

Got these from Ross for $23!

This is the dress above... it fits nice. I love it!!

Make-up

Okay, I've realized that I'm getting a little crazy with my make-up purchases... at work some brands are buy 1, get 1 50% and then I had a coupon for $3 off 2 Maybelline products... needless to say, I stocked up! oops... I only spend less than $30 total from my 2 purchases.. but still.. LOL I need to stop being careless with my make-up buying.... so I'm going to slow it down a little, and use the eye shadows I have [which is now quite a few compared to 6 months ago!] Here is what i got!

Maybelline Eye Studio Color Gleam-  (Limited Edition) Purple RadianceThis was my first time getting one of these palettes. Their creamy/smooth
but get clumpy in the crease kinda fast.. had to re-apply later in the day

Maybelline Eye Studio [ Bronze Blowout // Lawless Lavender]

Maybelline [l-r] Emerald Smokes // Designer Chocolates // Impeccable Greys

kabuki brush- Essence of Beauty brand

love the pink handle/bottom

Britney Spears In Control Curious perfume/lotion/lip gloss set

Have any of you tried any other Britney Spears perfume? Know of any palettes or perfumes I should try?! I love all suggestions!!

Finally Growing Up??

I'm not sure what exactly has happened to me over the last few months... but I have made many changes in the way I act/think and the things I do. I'm assuming thats all apart of growing up right? I've begun to try new clothing styles and make-up looks... buying AND wearing HEELS [I hope hell isn't freezing over...]. and now I've decided to try wearing... a wig! I used to always say i would NEVER wear a weave etc but I was reading over a blog  Healthy Kisses] and the blogger mentioned how occasionally wearing wigs is a great way to protect natural hair! My cousin usually does my hair every 3 or 4 weeks, so that means that roughly 2 weeks each month my hair is in my own hands!! [yikes!] I always try 'natural' styles like braid-outs, flat twists, etc and i would notice from time to time that this style would only last me 2 days and then my hair becomes a chea-pet, then I'm forced to comb it out and it looks frizzy!! :-/ So I went to YouTube to see what half wigs are, checked out a few website and thought "I could totally rock a half wig!!" So later on this week I will go to a local beauty supply store to price and try on a half wig and see how i like it. then if I truly like it I will but it [either in store or online, whichever is cheapest]

At one point I considered getting a sew-in weave but I've been told that the braids do damage to the hair. My main goal is to get my hair to a healthy state, and looong!! After my cousin cut my hair a few months back [here] my hair was at a much healthier state than it had ever been and it quickly began growing since she chopped off sooo much of my slit ends. So long story short, this is my current hair plan. I will of course post pics and a review once I get the whole half-wig thing figured out =)

I may try a half wig similar to the ones below:

Outre Quick Weave- Gladys

Outre Quick Weave- Polly

*both wigs found at http://www.blackhairspary.com/

Fully Beatable Giveaway

Hi [again] ladies!

Like I started in the previous post, I've been doing some blog catch-up. I recently discovered Beverly's blog - Fully Beatable. Her blog is really cool, so check it out! She is currently doing a giveaway. Sooo check out her blog and enter!! Good luck!

here are the items apart of Beverly's giveaway- go enter!!

CaramelCutie's GIVEAWAY

Hello ladies,

I was reading through many of the blogs I follow, playing catch-up, and I was reading through CaramelCutie's blog. She is hosting her 1st giveaway- she's giving away a $35 gift certificate. Her giveaway ends October 22nd so go check it out!!

Make-Up Reviews

 Lately I've been laying low on buying a lot of makeup for various reasons. But i had a coupon for close to 50% off Revlon and this purchase caused me to get another coupon =) But I only got a few things so I figured I would do a review on the items I purchased.

Revlon Double Twist Mascara- black

I bought this particular mascara because it was on sale and I had coupons. With that said; this was the worst thing I could have bought!!! The brush was cute, but once the brush hit the little tube of mascara it was cute no more! The brush looks all gloppy when I pulled it out... I'm assuming because the mascara is too thick?! I've only used 2 other mascaras before; one (Maybelline Falsies) that I LOVE and one (Rimmel London) that is decent enough for me to continue to use, I think I will stick to the brand that works well for me! **Don't buy this mascara unless you like the "cake frosting mascara" look...

 

Revlon Illuminance Creme Shadow- Wild Orchids

I have another set of Revlon Creme Shadows... don't use it often since the colors are bold. The Wild Orchids set it more of a neutral tone. The colors are soft and seem like any one of the colors can go with just about anything you wear-- which I like! I wore two of the colors today [the ones on each end...]

Revlon Colorstay Mineral Lipglaze- Eternal Blossom

I originally wanted to Coral Color Lipglaze but it looked tampered with.... didn't want to risk using it if [God forbid] someone else used it as a tester.... This gloss is a little thick so I didn't need to apply much. the color doesn't stand out too much, which is okay. It blends in well with my complexion

 

Maybelline Eye Studio Color Pearls- Ivy Icon

This may seem a little bias, but I LOVE Maybelline Color Pearls. The colors are just basic with the bit of glam/glimmer added... if that makes sense. This color showed up well on my complexion. Haven't tried it on my eyes yet... soon I will.

 

Maybelline Eye Studio Color Pearls- Tantalizing Teal

Same as the previous description-- this color is kinda light, but still shows up well on my complexion. I have not tried this color on my eyes yet.. in the coming days i will =)

** Also, yesterday after work I bought a pack of 60 eye shadow brushes for $5 (from CVS) !! I figured this would be cheaper than trying to buy bigger brushes every other month.

Favorite Eyeliner

Ever since I started using eyeliner, its always been the pencil/crayon kind. Mary Kay has one smooth eyeliner that I LOVE. but when the pencil broke i was stuck w/o eyeliner!  My mom didn't have anymore sooo I had to buy a Maybelline one that was similar; it did the job. After a while i got bored with my eyeliner looking smudgy, I was possibly doing something wrong! About a month before this I bought a CoverGirl liquid eyeliner, called ExactLine [I think....] The first few times I used it, I looked crazy! After trying it again recently I figured it out and now LOVE this eyeliner!! It looks really bold/standout-ish in pics, so that must be good, right?! On the few occasions I have used it, I look pics.

I &heats; this eyeshadow!!

I believe i used Mary Kay 'Steel' eye shadow

i love the silvery look!

What do you girls think?! Any other good eyeliners out there?