Review: ELF - Therapeutic Conditioning Lip Balm

 

They say ~ Salvation for parched lips. This innovative balm coats lips with natural nutrients and skin soothers to condition even the most sensitive lips. Infused with Shea Butter and Vitamins A & E for long lasting protection.

I say ~ I won this one as a prize a while back, but if I hadn't I would have still bought it to try out their range of lip balms. The tube is a little longer and slimmer than an average lip balm, I feel as if you are getting less product for your money too, as typically lip balms come in a 4g tube. Also with it being an all white stick it does make me feel a little self conscious whipping it out in public, could be mistaken as a feminine hygiene product.

The scent, is blackberry creme, has a nice light blackberry scent. Once applied to the lips the scent doesn't really linger, it feels really slick on the lips its nice. After a couple of minutes it doesn't go away and feels a little bit greasy. It doesn't really sink in to the lips, just sits on top of them where as you would expect a conditioning one to sink in. There is no taste or colour to this lip balm either.

5/10

£1.50 - 2g

ELF

Nails: Matte Black Animal Print

Matte Black Animal Print

Nails: Halloween

It is so hard to do on your own hand, especially when your trying to use your non-dominant hand!

Collection 2000 - Hot Looks Hip Hop

ELF - Pearl Polish

ELF - Black Polish

ELF - Punk Purple

Barry M - Nail Effects

Shopping: October 2010

Sleek - Bad Girl Eyeshadow Palette

MUA - Shade 9 Polish

Collection 2000 - Hot Looks Polish in Hip Hop

Also my dotting tools finally arrived! I got the from eBay and they were £1.30 and that was with p&p

Review: Schwarzkopf Mystical Violet

So in a fairly recent post I got some hair dye, the Schwarzkopf in Mystical Violet. So this is a little update on how that went...

Before:

And after: 

Having been dyeing my hair for the past 12 years or so I have tried lots of different variations on black with a hint of other colours. This one is with a deep purple which actually is nice and subtle, I was a little bit worried looking at the picture of the woman on the box but luckily it didn't turn out that bright!

I have had my hair this colour now for a month and the dye is still there, as in the shining purple. I still am getting lots of red coming out of my hair when I wash it and I think it will fade out in to a black before long. I don't really mind though because I like having my hair black. My hair is quite thick and is down just past my bra strap (25 inches) and I used a box and a half of this hair dye to do it.

Would I buy it again? I might do, it doesn't seem to be worse than any of the other ones I have tried and is actually lasting longer than the cosmo blue one from Schwarzkopf which I have tried at least 10 times over the years.

7.5 / 10

£4.75 - 25ml

Nails: Bloody Halloween

Trying another Halloween nail, not sure if it looks any good though.

Supposed to be along the lines of blood / vampires.

Ended up going with this look. Used a little sponging technique.

ELF - Dark Red

ELF - Black

Review: Lush - Smitten Hand Cream

 

They say ~ Smitten is made with natural oils, calming chamomile and beeswax to protect the hands from extreme weather or nourish them when they need it most. Use it regularly for nice soft mitts.

I say ~ I like the scent of marzipan and that is exactly what the scent of this product is! This product is available all year round and is nice and lasts for ages. It is moisturising, it quickly soaks in to the skin and doesn't leave a oily film on my skin. The scent lasts for a couple of hours as well which is always a bonus. It isn't a heavy duty hand cream though so if you have drier hands then maybe pick a different product.

8/10

£6.10 - 100g

Lush

Review: Lush - Magic Mushroom Bubble Bar

 

This was a  valentines day 2010 special bubble bar combines the scent of yummy yummy yummy and vanillary. It seemed to be quite nice and scented. I thought it looked quite cute, a little mushroom. I imagine it could be halved and used in two baths but I just crumbled up the whole thing and used it.

The overall scent was a sweet one, could smell the vanilla more so than the yummy yummy yummy. As you can see it turned the bath water a watered down red colour, rather than a pink which is what I imagined it would do. I didn't need to moisturise afterwards and the scent lasted a couple of hours.

Don't think I would purchase this again if it were to come out purely because vanillary isn't a fave scent of mine.



7/10

Nails: Zebra Purple French

Bit of a disaster, could have done better zebra print freehanded!
Base: ELF - Purple Dream / Sally Hansen Hard as Nails - White
Stamping Plate: M57
Stamping Polish: ELF - Black


 

Nails: Colourful Animal Print

ELF - Punk Purple

ELF - Fluorescent Pink

ELF - Black

Practicing the animal print nails. Still too colourful for me though!

Nails: Peacock Dots

 

Review: 17 Lasting Fix Lipstick - New Black

Not such a focused photo but the colour is accurate

They say ~ 17 Lasting Fix Lipstick provides long lasting, non-drying coverage for your lips that lasts up to 4 hours. Dermatologically tested. Fragrance free.

I say ~ The lipstick does have a scent but its really slight and is just the normal lipstick scent. Its really long lasting, I wore it for about 5 hours before it needed a top up. Its nicely moisturising and is very pigmented although using it as a stain you could easily wear it as a day time colour. It is a nice deep burgundy, purple-y, wine colour.

I think it is quite similar to the MAC dark deed or cunning but seeing as I don't own either of these I can't really do a proper comparison.

10/10

£3.49 from Boots

Nails: Spider Web

Trying out a spider web nail look for a halloween party!

ELF Polish - Pearl

ELF Polish - Black

Review: ELF - Waterproof Eyeliner Pen

Ash // Midnight // Black

They say ~ "Get no smudge, no budge eyeliner that lasts for hours for a fabulous and fresh look of precision. The smooth pen applicator easily glides on color for very fine to bold lines for effortless beauty"

I say ~ They claim that its no smudge or budge and I have to agree with that. Once this has dried, and it doesn't take long for that unlike typical paint on eyeliner, it doesn't smudge. I like how you can use it for both thick and thin lines as well.

The problem I had with these pens was that sometimes one line wasn't pigmented enough and so had to go over the line to get a deeper colour. These pens are best stored nib down so that the colour is right there in the tip to use when you want. Also the pen dries up quite quickly.

ELF

£1.50 - 1.8g

Nails: Black French

Thought that I would attempt something matte, subtle french but all black. Not too bad but a little wonky!

ELF Black Polish

ELF Matte Polish

Swatch: ELF - Rosy Raisin

ELF - Rosy Raisin

Really like this one actually, might need another coat though. This is done with two coats.

ELF: All over cover stick comparison

 Apricot Beige | Light Beige

I am trying to find the right shade of ELF's all over cover sticks for me, they brought out some new shades (well new to me) and so my original choice of apricot beige being too dark am looking for something lighter. I realise that on my hand one looks too light and the other too dark but on my face that is different. I presumed that light beige would have been lighter than apricot beige however it is quite clearly a fair bit darker. Looks more pink toned and warmer than the yellow toned apricot beige.

Nails: In the Navy

Barry M - Navy

Review: ELF - Studio Complexion Perfection (Tone Correcting Powder)

They say ~ Create a balanced and radiant complexion that is beautiful and healthy. The lightweight formula evens out the skin tone and absorbs excess oil. The sheer formula brightens, mattes and neutralizes the skin"

I say ~ I like this product, even with a foundation sometimes my natural uneven skin tone can show through and when using this product I just notice how much better and even I look. I sweep the brush through the entire colour range and apply it on after my foundation to help set it and that works well. 

You can use it though separately, a smaller brush dipped in the pink for example under the eyes really lifts them. The green over particularly red areas are good too.

£3.50 - 13.5g

ELF

*EDIT* - ELF have renamed this product Tone Correcting Powder and this is the light shade.

Nails: Matte Purple Pleaser

Elf Purple Pleaser and Elf Matte

The matte polish seems to be alright so far, and keeps them matte rather than going shiny quickly.

Review: ELF - Long Wear Lip Liner - Bark

They say ~ "Velvety ProVitamin Complex™ color caress lips with naturally long-lasting, never feathering, hydrating pigments. Formulated to be used with any e.l.f. Lip care product. Each pencil comes complete with it's own sharpener".

I say ~ I never have really had much of a use for a lip liner but I was wanting to try this one. So I was really pleased to have received this one as part of my prize for making a creative compact. I like the mineral lipstick in Barely Bitten and was hoping for a lip liner for that and it did match that. Does last for about 3 hours and more wears away than feathering. I liked how it came with a sharpener, useful!

7/10

£1.50 - 1g

ELF