elf Mineral Eyeshadows Review + SWATCHES! =)

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I didn't have anything I thought was post-worthy. Anyways I made an elf order back when it was the free shipping and half off some items. Anyways, the mineral eyeshadows were all half off (so only $1.50 each) and I went a little mineral eyeshadow happy =P Anyways, here are some swatches of the ones I got along with descriptions and reviews. Hope this is helpful!

Alrighty, so I got seven eyeshadows total in my order but I ended up giving two of them to friends for Christmas because the colors weren't what I was looking for. Those were Outdoorsy and Mystery which I will quickly describe for you, because I swatched them dry first (though I have no pictures.)

Outdoorsy- I saw it descibed online as a black base with green and gold sparkle in it and that is completely accurate (at least, when it is dry). I had been looking for a rich dark green, but this one, once the sparkle flecks away, is just black. Now, I might have gotten more of a green had it been wet, but I guess I'll never know!

Mystery- I was pretty disappointed with Mystery. =( It was described on the website as being matte, but that is misleading (at least for the jar I got). It is a matte pastel purple base with these random flecks of sparkle. And, it wasn't a nice shimmer or a satin look, it was just this random couple of sparkles that looked odd swatched. I had been hoping for a matte mauve type color, but this wasn't it. Luckily, I have a friend who loves pastel blues, white and purples, so I gave it to her and she'll probably love it.

Now on to the beauties I decided to keep =) I have 5 to share with you: Angelic, Socialite, Celebrity, Glamorous and Beachy. I have swatches of them wet and dry for you to get a comparison. In general, the swatches look similar but what I have found with these shadows is that they have almost no lasting power when you apply them dry, but they last beautifully wet. I wore celebrity on my lid yesterday and I did a tutorial (which I just uploaded) using Beachy and Angelic. So, let's get on to the swatches!

Angelic- I would describe this color as a silvery white with a shimmery finish. It's gorgeous on the inner corner and I think it would be fabulous over a silver base for a high-impact silver eyeshadow. I don't think I would recommend this as a brow highlight because it is far too shimmery.

The swatches are: dry on the left and wet using Clinique Moisture Surge Face Spray on the right.

Socialite- This one is a  smoldering taupe. It is very smokey looking but high sheen as well. In the jar it looks really dark and unflattering but don't be scared. It swatches so beautifully. I wanted this one after I heard emilynoel83 talking about it on Youtube. Anything she recommends is awesome =) I have yet to use it on my eye, so I can't tell you much about where to wear it or how it looks, but I can add that later for you guys.

The swatches are: dry on the bottom and wet using Clinique Moisture Surge Face Spray on the top.

Celebrity- This one is a pretty pretty light gold color. I have never found a gold I really liked but so far this one is great. I wore it all over my lid yesterday and it really brought out my blue eyes. I'll put a picture of that below. Anyways, it being light rather than overly orange toned makes it a really nice gold and easier to wear than most. It looks like a gold version of Angelic actually, at least the dry swatch does.

The swatches are: dry on the left and wet using Clinique Moisture Surge Face Spray on the right.

So, I don't have a good picture of the eyeshadow, but you can see how it is very wearable and flattering.

Glamorous- I haven't done much with this one yet, but it's a really pretty maroon color with purple and pink tones in it and some slight shimmer. It reminds me a little tiny bit of Luxor by NYX when it's dry, but I was really impressed with the wet swatch. It almost looks red, which is great because I have been looking for a nice red (note: The elf Studio Eyeshadow in Raspberry Truffle is brown not red. Needless to say, I was very disappointed). I  am looking forward to wearing this, and like I said with Socialite, I will let you know what I think of it on once I have worn it.

The swatches are: dry on the bottom and wet using Clinique Moisture Surge Face Spray on the top.

Beachy- This one is my favorite of the bunch! It is ridiculously gorgeous, pigmented and SO SO unique!! It is the most gorgeous royal blue ever, and you don't find too many true royal blues. Being that it is so pigmented, it is a little hard to wear everyday,  but it is great for fun looks like the tutorial I did with it (I'll put a picture). But it is also fairly blendable with a clean brush and a little makeup remover. I  would definitely say put your foundation on after applying this baby, because it tends to be a little messy. As far as the swatches, this one is more vibrant to start off with when it is dry, but it gets a really pretty sheen when it is wet.

The swatches are: dry on the bottom and wet using Clinique Moisture Surge Face Spray on the top

This is from my Hanukkah tutorial, and it is Angelic in the inner part of the lid and Beachy on the rest. I blended it thoroughly and you can still see how vibrant Beachy is.

As a whole, these eyeshadows are amazingly fantastic, especially for $3 (and even better for $1.50). They are amazingly pigmented and long-lasting (when applied wet) and they come in gorgeous colors. There are a total of 27 colors to choose from on eyeslipsface.com. I'm eye-balling Elegant, Earthy, Sassy, Caffeinated, Partier, Trendy, Enchanting, Smoldering and Flirty as ones I might get and swatch for you guys in the future. I would definitely recommend checking out the selection and picking a couple of fun colors and some neutrals, especially when they are having their sales (which they do all the time =))

Thanks for reading!

Shelby

Happy Turkey Day!! (Gobble, Gobble)

For all you Americans out there, I hope you get to enjoy a day filled with family and lots of good food (I plan on eating an insane amount of starch: sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and biscuits. Oh yeah!). And for all y'all of different nationalities, have a fantastic November 24! =) Anyways, as my gift to you I will be uploading all of my fall makeup tutorials I am behind on putting up today, including a new one inspired by Thanksgiving. So head over to www.youtube.com/sapphiremakeup928 to check that out! (Also, they should show up at the top of this page.) That is 5 new videos! (one haul and 4 tutorials) Here are some previews:

Sorry they are sideways!! I forgot to rotate them before I uploaded them =(

New Obsession: Revlon Lip Butters

So, I know everyone is talking about the new Revlon Lip Butters and I got myself one last weekend in Sugar Plum. It is a nice wearable red with some cranberry tones I would say. Below I posted a picture of myself wearing it:

It's kind of a rough picture, but hopefully you can kind of tell what color it is =)

Anyways I got mine at Target actually. They did not have all of the colors, but they had a lot of them. I had been wanting Red Velvet, but they did not have that which is how I ended up with Sugar Plum. I am actually kind of glad because I feel like this one is more wearable for school and stuff. I also saw these at Wegmans when I was there today, but I resisted the urge to get more of them because I am pretty much broke (high school girl problems). I do not often go to actual drugstores, despite the fact that I live within walking distance of a pretty nice CVS, so I do not know their availability status at places like that. What is annoying me is that the Revlon website has yet to add them to their products so I cannot go on and drool over the gorgeous color selection.

In total I believe their are 20 colors. I spent yesterday evening scouring the internet for what those 20 colors were. Many blogspots and Youtubes later, I have gotten a list of all 20 together (let me know if I am missing any). Below I will put a list of the colors along with descriptions based on the swatches I have seen. I cannot promise that they are completely accurate, as I only have one, but I wanted to put this up so there would be a complete list of the Lip Butters somewhere.

• Berry Smoothie- This one is like if a hot pink was just sheered out and it makes it like a wash of pink without the intensity.
• Brown Sugar- kind of a bronzey tan. I could see this one being popular for the darker skinned ladies.
• Candy Apple- A vibrant hot red that looks like the candy on a candy apple. Seriously, Revlon hit the nail on the head with the names for these lip butters!
• Cherry Tart- Again, a hot red. This one is even truer of a red I would say, with a very neutral tone and more pigmented from what I can tell.
• Cotton Candy- A less blue-toned version of Cupcake. Also, less intensely pigmented.
• Creamsicle- Seems like a very sheer orangey nude. Does not seem like it adds much pigmentation or anything.
• Creme Brulee- A very bronzey nude. It does seem to add pigmentation to the lips rather than "concealer lip" look, but it does not have any color like pink or red or what have you.
• Cupcake- An extremely cool-toned and pigmented baby pink. Personally, I myself am going to steer clear of this one and go for something like Strawberry Shortcake, but for those with fair cool-toned skin this could be amazing.
• Fig Jam- Like Brown Sugar, just a brown nude. The two actually look very similar in swatches.
• Gumdrop- This one, like Cupcake is an extremely cool-toned light pink, just maybe a little less pigmented.
• Lollipop- Pretty much a super hot fuschia. This one looks pretty intense.
• Peach Parfait- A sparkly peach color. Pretty self explanatory I guess.
• Pink Truffle- A mid-toned nude pink. It is like Creme Brulee with pink tones. Seems like one of those "my lips but better" kind of dealios.
• Raspberry Pie- A deep berry that literally looks like the inside of a pie. Seems like a great fall color!
• Red Velvet- A deep rich red. It is like Red Velvet cake (Mmm! I love red velvet cake) in that it is very rich and decadent in color. Already seems like a cult favorite.
• Strawberry Shortcake- A sheerer light pink that seems like it could work for most skin tones as it is a soft way to wear baby pink.
• Sugar Frosting-Very similar to Cotton Candy except maybe even less cool-toned. It is just a neutral baby pink type color which leans slightly more cool.
• Sugar Plum- a muted red, this one is like the other reds (Cherry Tart, Red Velvet) but more wearable for day-to-day. At least on my lips, I do not get any plum tones. It is pretty much a soft red for me.
• Sweet Tart- This one looks like what I would describe as a watermelon type pink. Just a (sort of) coral toned but wearable pink. It is definitely not intense, so do not be scared of this one.
• Tutti Frutti- Oh my gosh! Such a unique color. It looked hot orange in the tube, but it comes off as a coral with lots of pink tones. It looks very wearable and seems like it could add flair to any look while still staying somewhat neutral.

As far as the colors, my one complaint is that there are far too many cool-toned light pinks, but that is all personal preference and I am an extremely warm-toned girl with medium skin, so baby pinks just DO NOT work on me. Personally I really want Tutti Frutti, Red Velvet, Sweet Tart and Pink Truffle.

These lip butters contain three varieties of moisturing butters for the lips and are a great way to get nice color without cracking and peeling like other lip products tend to do this time of year. I love the feel of them on my lips. They feel luxurious and are so easy to apply.

As far as packaging, they come in sleek little tubes in colors close to the color of the lipstick and the top is clear so you can see the actual product. Their design is so cute and yet classy! My only complaint would be that as I scroll the product back into the tube it feels like some of it (very minimal amount) scrapes off.

These all retail anywhere from $6-$8 (I have seen them on the lower price range and the higher). They will be available at all retailers by early 2012 and are supposed to be permanent.

Thanks for reading my first blog post!!

Shelby

PS: I am planning on doing a video soon comparing these to Maybelline Baby Lips, so subscribe to my YouTube, sapphiremakeup928 if you want to see that! =)