Drugstore Haul! (Hair rollers & Makeup)

Holy moly do I have a lot of posts scheduled or what?  Being so backed up recently and at the same time buying a lot of things do NOT make for a good combination.  I'd been on Spring Break last month, and I took that opportunity to go to my trusty neighborhood beauty stores and buy some things.  These stores are only found in my neighborhood, but I'm sure you can buy each item online or in other stores!

Revlon Colorsilk in 'Dark Burgundy' ($5), Kiss Adhesive Remover ($3), Kiss False Lashes in 'Au Naturale' ($3), Push Liner brush ($2), Suave Max Hold Hairspray ($3), Divine 2" Foam Rollers 4-Pack ($1.29)

Annie 3/4" Soft Twist Rollers 5-pack ($3.50), Annie Magnetic Rollers 12-pack (bigger ones, $2.50), Annie Magnetic Rollers 12-pack (smaller, $2)

NYX Blush in 'Red' ($5), Wet n Wild Silk Finish Lipstick in 'Breeze' ($1), NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in 'Amsterdam' ($6), Jordana Easyliner in 'Baby Berry' and 'Latte' ($2/ea), NYX Lipliner Pencil in 'Nude Beige' ($2)

L.A. Colors in 'Luscious Wine' ($1), L.A. Colors in 'Berry Ice' ($1), Wet n Wild Megalast Lip Color in 'Sugar Plum Fairy' and 'Vamp it Up' ($2/ea)

Wet n Wild Color Icon Palette in 'Comfort Zone' ($5)

Whew, that took forever to finish!  I didn't buy all these in one day, they're purchases made throughout the month.  I actually just applied for a Rite Aid Wellness+ card so I got all the Wet n Wild things at Buy 1 get 1 50% off :)

I had been interested in trying hair rollers for some time, so I took the chance to buy some while I was home since the dollar store near my school didn't have many options.  Stay tuned for swatches and reviews of these products!

- Jolie ♥

E.L.F. Haul!

So it's been awhile since I ordered from elf...maybe because I branched out a little bit and started ordering Coastal Scents.  But I realized that with all the mystery boxes I've been getting, I needed a place to put those individual Hot Pots into.  I immediately thought of elf's Custom Compacts that only cost $1 and hold 4 pans; so I started filling up my cart to get enough for free shipping haha.  I also needed to try some new concealers because the All-Over-Cover Sticks were creasing under my eyes.

As you can tell, I didn't actually get many new things, just things I was sort of interested in trying out.  

I got:

Cream Eyeliner in 'Black' ($3/ea) - the one I had before dried out beyond saving so I had to get a new one

Studio Blush in 'Blushing Rose' ($3/ea) - for my medium skin tone because lighter shades weren't showing up

Studio Lip Exfoliator ($3/ea) - backup

2 Custom Compacts ($1/ea) - for my Coastal Scents Hot Pots

Shine Eraser ($1/ea) - for my boyfriend who wanted to try it

Studio Contouring Blush & Bronzer in 'St. Lucia' ($3/ea) - I was interested in the hype and I really needed a bronzer that would show up because Elf's Healthy Glow Bronzer in 'Matte Bronze' was NOT doing the trick

Nail Polish in 'Skinny Jeans' ($2/ea) 

Tone Correcting Concealer in 'Light Beige' ($1/ea)

Brightening Eye Color in 'Nouveau Neutrals' ($1/ea) - free sample

Clarifying Pressed Powder in 'Apricot Beige' ($1/ea) - the other ones I had gotten were too dark, so I went a shade lighter and this is perfect for me :)

Cover Everything Concealer in 'Light' ($2/ea) - yet another concealer I wanted to try in case the Tone Correcting one didn't work

2 Triple-Tipped Waterproof Eyeliner Pens in 'Black' ($2/ea) - I ordered a second one by mistake :(

I have tried and swatched almost everything the minute I opened the box.  Just so you know, Coastal Scents Hot Pots do NOT magnetize with Elf's Compacts, but at least it's a nice, safe way to store them.

I enjoyed the blush immensely; it actually gave me color on my cheeks.  The duo blush & bronzer actually impressed me a little bit because I didn't expect the bronzer to actually show up.  Many reviews will advise you to use a light hand with the bronzer because it is so pigmented, but I had no problem with it, probably because I'm a little more tan.

The two concealers I got worked well; I put one under each eye to kill two birds with one stone.  I didn't use any setting powder over them and they didn't crease at all throughout the day.

Don't worry, if this is a little too much to take in, I definitely plan on posting reviews of most of these products, so stay tuned!  (And as always, feel free to comment below if you have any questions or comments.)

- Jolie ♥

 

Coastal Scents Mystery Box #2

Hello all!  As you can see from the title, this is the second mystery box I've gotten from Coastal Scents.  I've already done a post on my first box, which you can read here.  To save you the trouble, here's a little run-down of what the mystery box is. 

Supposedly, Coastal Scents only runs these promos about twice a year; you pay $20 (not including shipping), for a box of completely random things that are supposed to be worth over $50.  Once you get it, there are no returns or exchanges, obviously because you buy it knowing that there is a risk of getting things you don't like.

The point is to try things that you normally wouldn't, whether it be colors or products, and what's not to love about getting more than twice your money's worth of products?  In my first mystery box, I calculated about $65 worth of things; what an amazing deal.

However, I was only okay with the things I got in the first box, so my boyfriend (the enabler), got me a second ♥  After a week of anticipation again, I finally received the box and was super happy with what I got!

Contents in their packages

Contents unboxed

I was SO excited this time because I got the thing I wanted the most --> a Divine Line cream eyeliner!  I had wanted to get that in my last box, but got the liquid eyeliner instead.  Also, I only got one repeated item, which was one of the Hot Pots, but it's okay because I really liked that color.

Values of my contents:

Black Soap ($4)

Sunless Body Art in 'Dark' ($8)

Duo Shadow Pencil in 'Copper Penny' ($3)

Lip Pencil in 'Pinky' ($3)

Duo Defining Wand in 'Chocolate/Pistachio' ($10/discontinued)

Divine Line in 'Lolite' ($10)

4 Hot Pots in 'Peachy Pink', 'Coral Rose', 'Berry Grey', 'Tarnished Nickel' ($2 ea/ = $8)

2 Mineral Shadows in 'Rose Sparks' and 'Key Lime' ($5 ea/ = $10)

Eyelash Curler ($5)

Lip Smacks in 'Bohemian Orange' ($3.75)

Small Angle Brush (Price not listed)

Total: $64.75

I really liked what I got in this box mainly because I didn't get any repeats.  There were a lot of new things I had not explored on the website and would not have known about if it weren't for this promotion.  I did some swatches of certain items but I plan on doing an in-depth post on them.

I mostly really liked the lip gloss color I got, because in the first box, I got a light baby pink color which I was not fond of, but Bohemian Orange is a gorgeous rusty orange color that looks great on me!

If the promotion is still on, I strongly urge you to try it out because it's definitely worth it!  Once again I had gotten more than three times what I paid for :) 

Stay tuned for in-depth reviews on these products, and as always, if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

- Jolie ♥

Coastal Scents Mystery Box

Oh my, I didn't realize it's been a month since I've updating the blog.  I've bought a lot of makeup in the meantime and actually have quite a few posts scheduled, so don't fret!

I've recently been buying more Coastal Scents things because I know from experience that their eyeshadows are great (better than Elf's), but I've never actually tried anything else from them.  So imagine how happy I was when they came out with their mystery box promotion!

Apparently the promotion only comes about twice a year and it's a great deal.  You pay $20 for their mystery box in which they can throw anything in and its said to have over $50 worth of products.  So even if you have to pay for their shipping, which cost me about $8 something; I should still be expecting at least $20 of free stuff!  (Just to warn you, the mystery boxes are non-refundable and you shouldn't really complain to the company about getting something you didn't like since you are paying for the randomness and surprise.)

Any-who, I finally got the package after so much anticipation during the week, and here is what was inside!

Its a small box within a box!

The contents in their boxes

Contents unboxed

I was overall pretty happy with my things, especially since I calculated everything and the total came out to be over $65!  

What I got:

Sterling Divine Brush Set ($25)

Liquid Eyeliner in 'Shamrock' ($3)

3 Mineral Shadows in 'Ignite', 'Hi Light Blue', and Fiji Twist ($5 ea/ = $15)

5 Hot Pots in 'Peachy Pink', 'Peach', 'Vibrant Lime Green', 'Powder Pink', 'Aqua' ($2 ea/ = $10)

Passion Berry Lip Quad ($7)

Lip Gloss in 'Cosmic' ($3.75)

Single Go Pod ($2)

What I was most impressed with was the brush set.  The case looks like a beautiful silver snake-skin clutch, but when you open it you can see it has 6 brushes!  Coastal Scents has the bad habit of not putting the brush names on the handle so I can't tell you what they are.

I also had to find the names of each Hot Pot by myself because they're labeled with numbers on the back so I had to look up the corresponding names on the website.

However, I was also extremely impressed with their liquid liner.  It's a light green liner and I compared it to my Elf Liquid Eyeliner in 'Forest Green'.

Elf liner (left), Coastal Scents liner (right)

Elf (left), Coastal Scents (right)

After rubbing: Elf (left), CS (right)

As you can tell, the Elf liner is much darker, but it also took a few applications to saturate the color because it tends to erase itself if you go over the first line you drew.  The CS liner didn't have that problem; the first line I drew stuck to my skin and showed up as soon as I swatched it.

Also, the staying power of the CS liner is amazing.  I never knew how easily Elf liquid liners came off before, but this completely blew my mind.  The Elf liner came off with one rub of my finger, yet the CS liner didn't budge.  After a couple more rubs it still did not budge, and only came off a little bit after I started scratching at it.  So I would definitely recommend this liner for people who like their liners to stay on all day (who doesn't?)

Mineral Shadow Ignite - a soft, pastel pink

Mineral Shadows Hi Light Blue and Fiji Twist - pastel blue and pastel yellow

Swatches (left to right): Fiji Twist, Hi Light Blue, Ignite

Free Mineral Shadow sample from CS - Key Lime

Swatch of Key Lime (pastel green)

It seems like CS really wanted me to have pastel mineral shadows this time haha.  All the colors I got were very soft and were all in loose powder form so were quite messy.  In my swatches of Fiji Twist, Hi Light Blue, and Ignite, it seems like it went in order from pigmented to sheer.

Fiji Twist was the most pigmented, Hi Light Blue was semi-opaque, and Ignite came off as a little sheer as I had to swatch a couple of times to get the color to show up, but that may be because of my skin color.

Key Lime was also pretty sheer so I wouldn't really recommend these colors for anyone; I'd advise you to go for a darker color from the mineral shadows line.

Overall, I wasn't too disappointed with what I got, especially with the brushes with its amazing case ♥  If they are still in effect, I would definitely recommend you to get a mystery box!

- Jolie ♥

Smoky Eye with E.L.F Products

Hello all!  Since I've been getting so many new makeup recently, I decided to start playing with eyeshadow.  I used to stay away from them because I never got to experiment and feared I would look like I got punched in the face if I tried.  My only makeup look used to consist of a cat-eye and black liner on the water line; it was pretty basic.


Here is my version of a smoky eye:

The amazing thing is that, not only did I achieve this look with ONE quad, but that quad was also only one dollar!

Products used:

Brows: ELF Studio Eyebrow Kit - Dark ($3)

Eyes: ELF Brightening Eye Color - Drama ($1)

         ELF Liquid Eyeliner - Black ($1)

        ELF Studio Waterproof Eyeliner Crayon - Black ($3)
       ELF Studio 3-in-1 Mascara ($3)

Lips: ELF Super Glossy Lip Shine - Goddess ($1)

I got a bit lazy, so I didn't put on any face makeup.  I would normally use Elf's All Over Cover Stick to conceal my dark circles or blemishes, but overall my whole makeup routine was less than $15.

I mainly only used two colors on my lids, Drama comes with 4 colors (white, charcoal gray, black, silver).  

I dusted the charcoal gray all over my lids and then used a tiny bit of black on the outer V to deepen the color and intensify the look.  Then I just finished with a slight winged liquid liner on the top lash line and black crayon liner on my waterline.

The mascara I used here is the 3-in-1 mascara, which many people seem to love, but I don't particularly like it.  It tends to clump up on me, sticks my lashes together, and weighs them down.  I just bought a few new mascaras so I will have updates on those.

Here is my whole look:

There you go, you finally get to see my face!

Again, excuse my blemishes as I only concentrated on the eyes.  The smoky eye shows up blue on camera because of the flash, but I assure you it actually comes out darker than it seems.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave a comment!  Let me know if you like me posting up makeup looks; thanks guys!

- Jolie ♥

E.L.F Plumping Lip Glaze in Fire Coral

Elf's Plumping Lip Glaze is actually a repurchase, but I tried it SO long ago that I'd forgotten how effective it was.  These also retail for $1 each, so they're a good thing to try out.

I ended up buying the color in Fire Coral because it seemed to be one of the darker colors and may show up on my lips more.  It's a mix of coral and hot pink, but definitely wearable since it's a gloss.

It comes in one clear side (plumper) and the colored side.  There's a minty smell to both sides when you apply and both tingle (clear side more than colored).  

 

Fire Coral swatch

Pre-plumped lip

Clear side applied

Color side applied over clear

Overall, I don't think it actually plumped my lips at all, but it would make people believe so because of the tingle.  The pigmentation is pretty nice though, so you can just wear both alone if you feel like giving your lips just a little boost of color.

It's only a little bit sticky, but I would not recommend wearing this one a windy day, at least with your hair down.

It's very long-lasting as it stayed on for over 3+ hours after mild drinking.

Bottom line:  No plumping effect, minty feeling, good pigmentation, and long-lasting.  Would recommend as a regular gloss.

- Jolie ♥

E.L.F. Nail Polish in Red Velvet

I decided to try out Elf's Red Velvet this week; it seems like more of a holiday color because of the color and shimmer, but I'm still on vacation so why not?

Red Velvet isn't sold on elf's website anymore, but it came in the 14-piece set that I purchased a few weeks before.  As I have mentioned, the nail polishes in the two sets I bought are not that great.  Elf may have a new and improve formula for the full-sized bottles, but I don't think they use the same formula for their sets.

The color is a very beautiful light shimmery red color, it almost has a pink hint to it.  It reminds me more of Dorothy's ruby slippers from Wizard of Oz than it does a red velvet cake.

 Red Velvet with flash (looks more rich red than it actually is)

Red Velvet without flash (captures the light red/pink color better)

The color itself was very beautiful, and I got many compliments on it.  However, the formula itself was a mess.  It applies quite thick and dries a little quicker than expected; if you try to put multiple coats before it dries, it turns extremely goopy.  The only good thing about the formula is that, even if it applies unevenly, it will even itself out on your nail.

Bottom line: Thick, goopy formula.  Beautiful color, but I recommend finding a dupe for the color.

- Jolie ♥