Wednesday 31 August 2011

ELF UK Haul, swatches & Review

My first ever ELF UK Haul

Ive heard so many things about this brand from both people in the UK and the US, so when i heard they were having a 50% off sale i had to give them a try.

Here's what I got

So let me just start off by saying, that their website is really easy to use, and its really simple to order, although quite a few things were out of stock that i would have loved to of tried, but this is a 50% off sale after all, so really what can we expect, I'm sure thousands of us were all ordering at the same time!

My package took about 10 days to arrive, which is a little long, but again this is usually what happens when a great sale is on.

My package came and i was super excited to check out all the goodies i just bought, but when i opened the box 3 of my items were missing, they were on my invoice and id been charged for them but they were nowhere to be seen! I quickly emailed ELF customer service through a link on their website, and let them know the situation, and they were great about it, the sent me replacements out straight away.

So back onto the goodies i got:
Don't they look all pretty just lying there, lol.
I got the following:

* Golden Bronzer
* Complete Coverage Concealer palette in Medium
* Beauty School Eyeshadow palette in Natural
* 5 Nail polishes in, innocent, lilac, gum pink, golden goddess, and mint cream. 
* Studio Conditioning Lip balms in Peaceful Pink, Nice and Natural and Mellow melon
* Cream Eyeliner in Black
* Lipsticks in Natural Nymph and Nicely Nude
* Studio Matte Lip colour in Coral
* Concealer Brush

Now onto some Swatches and my thoughts
This is the Golden Bronzer which i really like, it comes with four different shades in it and i like how the packaging looks, (very NARS like)the pigmentation is pretty good on this too.

This is the full coverage concealer palette in 'medium'
It comes with 4 different shades and its own little brush which is quite handy, it also has a mirror inside the compact too.
These shades go great with my skin tone, and i love the fact you get 4 shades in, so you can custom blend to suit. The concealer itself is great too, I've been wearing it for the past 2 weeks, especially under my eyes (too many late nights) and it has covered perfect, its super smooth and glides on, it stays on me all day and i don't find that it settles in creases and fine lines.

 Studio Matte Lip Colour in Coral
The packaging is very similar to that of MAC shade sticks, you twist the top for the colour to come out, super soft and silky, just glides on. Comes in a range of colours.

 Cream eyeliner in Black
I love this, its super black, really soft and buttery when applying, dries quickly and lasts all day on me, the packaging is cute on this too, also comes with its own little brush.

 Lipstick and Studio Conditioning lip balms with SPF 15
From top to bottom
Natural Nymph Lipstick
Nicely Nude Lipstick
Peaceful Pink Conditioning lip balm
Nice and Natural Lip balm
Mellow Melon Lip Balm
The lipsticks are nice, they feel super silky when applying too, the tinted lip conditioners are great, i love them all, there comparable to MAC lip conditioners, the peaceful pink one reminds me a little of MAC Hello Kitty   tinted lip conditioner in Pink Fish, obviously its not an exact dupe but its close enough. They com with SPF 15 in them too, which is great for in the summer, the packaging is the same as the cream eyeliners but these are HUGE!! Its quite difficult to get the product out if you have long nails as it just has a small round opening on the top.

 Beauty School Eyeshadow Palette in Natural
This palette is super cute, also comes with its own little brush, the pigmentation of these shadows are great, the swatches above are with no primer, so these will really pop if you use a primer before hand.
This is a perfect little palette for day or night, you have a lovely black in there too, to smoke your eyes up for a night out, perfect!

I didn't have time to swatch all the nail polishes, but here's a pic of me wearing Mint Cream, its GORGEOUS!!

Overall I'm quite happy with my haul, i spend £24 on everything, and I'm really surprised by the quality of everything, i will definitely be purchasing more ELF products in the future!!

Do you have any ELF favourites, let me know.

Friday 19 August 2011

Candles by Victoria in the UK!!!!!!

So I'm sure you have all heard of Candles by Victoria now, (if you haven't click the link below to head over to her website), they are handmade candles all the way from America.


I recently bought some Candles by Victoria from a wonderful swapper on makeupalley, shipping was expensive at $45 for a flat rate shipping box, but I love these candles so much that i was quite happy to pay the shipping for them. 

I first got my hands on a few of her scent shots in a swap through makeupalley, and have to say i instantly fell in love, they are THE BEST candles I've ever come across!!



I used to be a complete Yankee Candle addict, but now I'm totally converted to Candles by Victoria, she has over 650 scents to choose from, including bakery, fragrance, fruity, floral, Christmas and many many more!

She sells all different sized candles, scent shots, tart warmers, reed diffusers and much much more you really have to go and check her site out, I could spend hours on there.


The ones i bought took just over a week to come, and i received them today after a very long day at work, it totally made my day :o)

I bought 27 scent shots from her, and 5 jar candles, some have been used, so i got them all for a great price!


All packaged up in the flat rate box, this thing holds tons!!


All laid out nice and pretty, you can click to enlarge the picture.
The Scent Shots are individual 2 oz. tarts in individual plastic containers that you can pop out and put into a tart warmer/burner. It's a great way to try out their scents before you commit to a full size candle!



Everything i got here are all new scents to me, I've never tried them before, but cant wait to get burning!
Ive smelt them all cold, and they smell absolutely Divine.


Jar Candles I received
Check out how cute her labels are!
I got the in the following scents:

*Smores Galore
*Fluffernutter
*Nutella
*Kim's Country Cornbread
*Rae's Hot Coco and Marshmallows






All the scent shots I got, click to enlarge pic and see the scents I got.


A quick pic just to show you the size of the Scent Shots, I usually cut these into 4 pieces and burn one piece each time.

My favourites from what i have tried already are Caramel Corn, Bath time with pooh (a dupe for a very well know soap) and I am a rockstar, which i think has been re-named heavy metal (again this is a dupe for a very well known soap)
All of these scents that I've tried are spot on, especially the soap scents.

If any of you get the chance to swap or buy any of these, id urge you to go for it, especially if your already into candles, these knock Yankee Candle out the door without a doubt!!



Tuesday 16 August 2011

My New Goodies

Look what i just got in the post!!


OPI Glam Slam Set :o)

Serving up sparkle and Grape set match.

These colours are beautiful, I tried to take some pics but seriously they do no justice at all, the light seriously doesnt catch how sparkley these babies are!!


Serving up sparkle, this is jam packed with silver holographic glitter, that shines every colour of the rainbow, it truly is gorgeous.


Grape set match - this is a gorgeous purple shimmery colour, with tones of blue and silver in, its truly unique to anything else i have, its beautiful.


Just another pic to try and catch the sparkle.
You have to really see this polish in real life to appreciate how gorgeous it is.


My NOTD, grape set match with serving up sparkle over the top.

Thursday 11 August 2011

NOTD


ELF Mint Cream, sooo beautiful!!!

Sunday 7 August 2011

Magazine Freebies!!

Just thought id let you all know Marie Claire is giving away a free ciate nail polish and dove conditioner away in their current issue.

I saw these while i was doing my grocery shopping, and had to pick them up.
They have 2 shades to choose from, so yes i bought them both lol, i figured i could just give one of the magazines to my mam.

here's a couple of quick pics


You can click on the images to enlarge them :o)


How pretty are these bottles, they are too cute!!
The shades are:

* Wait Until Dark
* My Fair Lady

Both are beautiful, I've never tried these polishes before, so no doubt ill be featuring them on a NOTD very soon.

OH, AND BEFORE I FORGET HERE'S A FREE CODE FOR YOU ALL, YOU GET 15% OFF YOUR TOTAL ORDER WHEN YOU SHOP ONLINE AT:
WWW.CIATE.CO.UK

Just enter this code: CIATEMC
Offer ends 30/9/2011


Wednesday 3 August 2011

NOTD

Quick NOTD Post


Nails Inc Heather Grey
Hope you like :o)