Haul-ing with E.L.F!!

 Hey Y'all!! Welcome to my ELF haul! For those of you that have subscribed to my youtube (Herekitty3810) you'll already have seen the 'eyes' and 'face' part of my haul (lips coming soon!!) but I thought I'd show you more of it here!

So..the story of my love affair with ELF sprang (strangely enough) from my love affair with Benefit. I really REALLY wanted to try out the Benefit High Beam so feverishly went looking for cheap places to buy it online (as you do). In my search I came across the dupe for High Beam, ELF's unassuming little Color Stick highlighter in Lilac Petal. When I realised that ELF was a good quality product selling for a measly $1, my thrifty side started doing a jig and then slumped to the ground when I realised that ELF wasn't sold anywhere in Australia!! My mood was not helped by my favourite Youtube Beauty Guru's constant ELF reviews and hauls either!

So started my search for a devious and cunning way to get some ELF onto my shelf....(sorry)...
Anyways, a combination of my sudden realisation that I have a friend (male, ha..) who lives in America and the 50% Studio line sale on ELF's U.S website resulted in two massive boxes delivered by a sullen AusPost worker to my door filled with ELF goodies!!

...And now begins the haul...

I picked up five of the Studio blushes in Candid Coral (dupe of NARS Orgasm apparently, I actually like candid coral better as it has less glitters), Twinkle Pink, Fuschia Fusion, Giddy Gold and Gotta Glow (dupe for NARS Albatross highlighter). I've tried out all five and they are all very pigmented, have gorgeous colour payoff and very little fallout. Better than the NYX powder blushes in my opinion.

 I also got some of the Essential blushes (from the $1 line) and although they are no where near as good quality as the Studio line blushes, for the price they are extremely good! The only down side is the fallout otherwise the pigmentation is great and the wear is reasonably long. As you can see in the picture above, I grabbed one of the Complexion perfection powder sets and AM I GLAD I DID!! It has saved me baggy eyes so many times since I got it that eventhough I've barely touched it I know its already paid for itself! The yellow powder, when applied over dark circles under the eyes (from lack of sleep etc...) helps to neutralise the dark circles so well you barely need concealer! It is definately worth the $3 you pay for it!


Now, for LIPS! I haven't youtube-d this yet because I'm still waiting for more to come in from nonpareilboutique but I promise I will soon! The lip products I did get from my haul however include 2 of the Conditioning Lip balm in Peaceful Pink and Nice n' Natural (my fave!!), I also got the ELF Mineral lipstick in Natural Nymph which is a great lip primer but not so great as a lipstick (because of the colour, not the formula which is awesome!). A new studio product that I decided to try out was the Pout perfecter in Glow - the only shade. This is interesting because it works like a highlighter in that you dab a small amount right in the centre of your lips and it works to add dimension to the lips in that way. The 'formula' if you can call it that is abit...so and so...its basically glitter gloss! But it DOES do the trick, so can't complain.
I was sent an Essential Hypershine gloss in Honey as a freebie with my purchase because it was over $20 (score!). These glosses are great and remind me of the Stila glosses, a clut classic of the Stila cosmetics line. They are slighty more runny though but, seriously, one buck, so what do you expect??

Finally, the 'eyes' stuff I got are afew boxes of fake lashes (which I don't usually use ever but I should probably start getting in on that) and five of the Brightening Eyeshadow palette for $1 each. The colours I got were (as pictured) Butternut (Nudes), Ethereal (Pinks and Nudes), Rocker (Nudes with a Random Purple), Brownstone (Collection of Gorgeous Browns) and Drama (Smokey Eye). Of the five I would have to say that Brownstone is my favourite for several reasons. One, because of the everyday neutral colours, Two, because of the consistency of the eyeshadows and Three, because of the quality. It really is luck of the draw with the brightening eyeshadows as some of the palettes I received were very powdery and others (brownstone included) were of a much better quality.

So that was my ELF haul, I have to say that it seems unfair that the U.S not only have much lower prices for the same makeup as we do in Oz, but also they have 'drugstore' cheapie brands that are THIS good!! So if you get a chance to get your paws on some ELF stuff, definately give it a go because you'll then realise that just because it's a bargain doesn't mean it's cheap!

Thanks for reading, See you soon!

xx

NYX Black Label Lipstick in Natural and Bling

So my order from nonpareilboutique came in with two more of the NYX Black Label Lipsticks! I thought I'd do some updated swatches and lip photos for you to have a look at. If you want to see my review on the colours Nude, India and Peachy then just scroll down!

NYX Black Label Lipstick in Natural

The two new colours I got were Natural and Bling. Natural is a beautiful (you guessed it!) NATURAL colour that is the same shade as the lips are meant to be and for me it perfectly matches. It is a creamy terracotta-pink kind of shade and gives the lips just that is-she-or-is-she-not wearing lipstick kind of look. It has very buildable colour and can be built to be sheer or fuller coverage so if you just want abit of a stain just a light coat is all thats needed.

NYX Black Label Lipstick in Bling

Nude, Natural, Bling, Peachy and India

The second colour (and my new favourite) is Bling. Bling is a beautiful light mauve-creamy pink that suits girls with medium to medium-light skin tones. Again, it has a buildable creamy formula that is very pigmented and only one swipe is needed for maximum colour. It is perfect for all seasons as it has the mauve undertones that are great for winter and the pink tones that work for summer.

As I've said it my previous review of these lipsticks, the quality of these $5.00 lipsticks is so incredible it makes me (almost) cry whenever I think about the fact that they are not sold in Australia!! They are of the same quality as many lipsticks that I own that cost me four times as much and are even better than some of them! I think the most comparable product on the Australian market at the moment is the Rimmel moisture renew lipsticks and in saying that, they are much more moisturising with a wider (more exciting) range of shades and a less noticeable taste/smell then the Rimmels lippies.

All in all, I'm continuing to be impressed by the quality of the products that NYX comes out with, keep a look out for my NYX collection coming soon and I'll see you all later!

xx