Laura Geller Haul!

I was lucky enough to be in contact with Morgan Henry of Laura Geller Cosmetics, and she was able to send me a few of their products for review!
I had previously posted this review back in early April or May but for some reason it kept getting flagged or removed? I hadn't even noticed until a reader asked for the review, "Will you still be reviewing the Laura Geller products you promised?".
I apoligize if it seemed that I was ignoring any requests or that I do not keep my word! That wasn't my attention everyone :)
So I will have to repost these reviews tomorrow or in the next few days. I think the problem was me trying to post from my cell phone app, I guess all my reviews from that app were not being posted?
But not to worry, they will be up soon and I will not be posting from the app anymore!

Anyway, Laura Geller used to be sold at Sephora for a while, but it can now be found at Ulta, on her own website, and even QVC!
Her line of beauty products include her famous Spackle, Baked Shadows, Blushes, and Bronzers, and some of the longest wearing lip and eye products I have yet to try!
Keep an eye out for these wonderful products!
Thank you once again to Morgan Henry, and all the team at Laura Geller Cosmetics!

E.L.F Studio HD Powder & SPF 45 Sunscreen UVA/UVB Protection

To finish off my E.L.F Cosmetics haul, I've got the Studio Loose Powders. The picture on the left is the High Definition Powder, and the picture on the right, with the amazingly long name, is a SPF loose powder. These powders have 3.5 ounces of product and are available for $6 each; they are worth the price.

The SPF powder only comes in one color, although it does have a light brown tint to it. This mineralized powder is infused with aloe, grapeseed extract, and vitamins A, C and E. The color applies transclucent but it does come off a little too pink on some darker skin tones. I wore this powder on my recent vacation and it worked so well while on the beach and at the campsite! This provides light coverage and blocks sun damage.

The High Definition powder is translucent and creates what is called a "soft focus" that covers all imperfections. This is designed for those who work with cameras. A TV interview, broadcast, or a photoshoot can sometimes highlight blemishes, but with this powder that is all blurred and softened away. I loved this powder so much, it really makes your complexion glow and look flawless! The first time I tried it I took a picture just to test it out, and this really does wonders in front of cameras. I recommend using this powder very lightly or you will get a ghostly complexion. Another great thing about this product? It is an EXACT dupe for Smashbox Cosmetics' Photo Set HD finishing powder, which retails for about $28! Save some money, get the same results.

Both of these powders control shine very well, but these are not packaged for travel. These are so bulky, I actually had trouble storing them at first and I had to move some of my other things around to fit them. They are just plain big. They have a really nice sifter, though, and a large powder puff. I use the puff to pat the product on, and then I buff it out with a face kabuki.  

Pure Ice Nail Polishes!

I love finding cheap nail polishes! And this company is available at your local Walmart and Target for just under $1!! These polishes dry really quickly and only require 2-3 coats. Using a top coat has given me a whole week of wear with out any chipping at all; and that's including a few days of cleaning with bleach, which usually strips my polishes. The shade I'm wearing above is called Kiss Me Here; I wasn't trying to send any kisses out! I just thought it was appropriate and fun for the shade's name. It is a opaque gray with a slight blue undertone. I really like this color!

Another shade I enjoyed, and I'm actually wearing at the moment, is pictured below and is called Purple Reign. Excuse my chipped thumb and pointer nail; I've had this polish on for almost a week and a half! This is very bright, almost neon, glossy purple with gold reflects in it. The polish is not to be confused with a glitter polish; there is no glitter peices in it, only gold reflects. I really love it because the gold is subtle but still catches the light with just the smallest glimmer.

If you have not tried this brand before or are afraid to "waste" money on cheap brands that won't have much payoff; I really recommend these polishes! They are only $1, so what you would usually pay for an Essie polish, you can get 8 of these! And they are not tiny bottles like the Essie ones! They only take a few coats, like any other polish, and last a good week without chipping if you wear a topcoat over it! These are definitely "steals"!

You can never have enough polish ;)

E.L.F Studio Mineral Infused Mascara

Hey everyone, here I have for you the only mascara I dared to try from E.L.F cosmetics. I was a bit hesitant to try these because they are discount and I have had bad experiences with discount mascaras. Buying cheap could cause damage to your eyes and lashes!

But for $3 this actually turned out to be a really nice mascara!

It is "supposedly" miniral infused but the ingredients are mostly everyday mascara ingredients.

 I love the wand on this; it's silicone and bends to hug every lash; even the hard to reach inner lashes. The brush has many alternating rows of tiny bristles. The bristles seperate lashes really well and add great definition without the clumps.

This applies evenly and gives lashes that long and awake look. Do not confuse this with a volumizing mascara, though. This does nothing for thickness.

I recommend this for that natural makeup look because it brings out your lashes but doesn't make them look overdone or like you're wearing a lot of product.

The formula is very leightweight, which I like because the wetter formulas always make my lashes clump up and lose their curl.

I even use this mascara as a base when I don't want to pile on a thickening mascara. Simply apply this to lashes for definition and lenght and then apply a second coat of a thicker formula. This saves you from using up to three or four applications of that more expensive brand!

This is definitely one to try out!

E.L.F. Studio Blushes and Blush&Bronzer Duo Compact

Im still working on my E.L.F haul! I bought two blush compacts and a blush and bronzer duo. I was satisfied with all three so lets get right into it and I'll tell you know why.

This blush here is in Giddy Gold. I bought this for a glowy and bright look on my cheeks, perfect for the summer time. This blush was very bright in color; I was expecting it to be a little more wearable for the face ,but it was just too much. I didn't throw this out right away and I use it instead as a highlight. Just a small and light swipe above my cheekbones and down the bridge of my nose gives me the dewey look without using an expensive highlighter.  If used sparingly, this could also be used as a highlight for the decollete area when wearing some more revealing tops; if done right, it could look sexy, not skanky!

This next product is the Studio Contouring Blush and Bronzing Powder in Blushed and Bronzed (how original). E.L.F is definitely trying to dupe Nars' blush and bronzer compact! The encasing is almost the same, only this packaging has a non sticky coating, unlike the Nars compacts. The E.L.F one also has a sturdier and larger mirror. However, as far as the quality of the product goes this is not a dupe at all. Don't let it mistake you, though, these are still really great blushes for a wonderful price. The blush is a corally light pink with hardly any gold shimmer in it. The bronzer is a matte dark brown and it is perfect for contouring. I advise using this bronzer especially lightly and sparingly as it is a little difficult to blend.

This last blush I purchased is in the shade Candid Coral. If you compare it to the photo above, you can see that this blush looks exactly like the blush in the duo compact! I think they might be the same shades so this was a bad buy; only becuase now I have two of the same shades! The only difference is, this one has more gold reflects in it and it definitely not as matte as the other one above.

The blushes are $3 each and the duo compact is also $3. These blushes are very soft and it does not take a lot of product to get a good color payoff. I recommend tapping your brush into the pan and lightly tapping off any excess to avoid fallout. Rubbing or circling your brush will result in way too much product and crazy amounts of fallout. These come in 11 colors and I recommend trying them all!

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips

I was finally able to try these highly raved about nail strips for myself, and I must agree; these are wonderful! I bought mine at Walmart for about $9 which beats getting a manicure at a salon for $15 and up. The shade I have here is called Laced Up. These strips are really easy to use, as long as you follow instructions, and last for two whole weeks before chipping!
These come on a box which also contains a nail file, cuticle pusher, and instruction booklet.
Very Important: DO NOT open the strips until you are ready to use them. These are REAL nail polish strips and opening them before you use them will dry out the polish on the strip, and later it will not stick to your nail.
I learned by mistake! I was excited to try them so I opened the inner packaging just to have a look, when I came to use them later I had to trash them because they had dried out.
These are so simple to use. Simply clip and file nails to prepare for manicure. Push back cuticles and size up the strips to find the perfet fit for each nail. Wash hands and wipe nails down with some polish remover to ensure a clean, smooth surface for application. Press strip firmly to nail and file away the excess! Done! For a longer lasting effect, use a topcoat. These can be removed easily with polish remover.
I have very itty bitty nails and I was able to use one box of strips for both hands and feet! And I still had  some left over! Of course, the left overs must be thrown out because they dry out anyway. But for $10 I was able to get a beautiful mani/pedi.
The design and detail would have cost so much more in a salon!
I HIGHLY recommend this product!

GREAT New Steals and Deals

AMAZING offers on companies like Ulta, Coastal Scents, and E.L.F Cosmetics.
Offers include, free shipping, discounts up to 20% off, Buy 2 get 1 FREE deals, and a Free weekender luggage bag! Hurry and claim the sales before they're gone!

Another Sephora Disaster!

Hello again everyone! Happy fall semester! I am really excited because there will be a ton of reviews flooding this page in the upcoming weeks. For today, I want to share another tragic incident with Sephora. I have no clue why this keeps happening to me, everyone has had only good experiences with them but I guess I pulled the short end on this company. I ordered two palettes from them (debuting in a review soon) and was shocked at what arrived at my door step. This box was so beat up I was afraid to open it. Its almost as if they did it on purpose because of my last complaint! The box says "FRAGILE" on it people, come on. Ugh! It must have been tossed from truck to truck. Becareful when ordering from Sephora folks! 

Luckily, nothing was broken, but some product had melted again. In one of the palettes, all of the glosses and eyeliners had melted, fortunately none of the product spilled over and into any of the other pots. I had to refridgerate the palettes for about an hour just to solidify the melted product.

This picture was taken after an hour of sitting in my fridge and, as you can see, some of it is still melted (the eyeliners). I wasnt able to get these back to their normal consistency, they still look pretty much like this.
I recommend buying from their store instead of online!

Hello Again!

It is a beautiful Tuesday morning and Im enjoying it at school! The first week of classes here at Willow is always the craziest! But Im looking forward to sharing new reviews! Happy Fall Everyone!!

Open Box(es) Day!

So I just wanted to give a heads up to everyone; I will be going on a week long vacation before school starts up again (I start classes the day after I get back, eek!). So I will not be putting up any posts soon or that often.
BUT
Today I am expecting a package and its the last one I was expecting this summer, so I will finally open them all up today and start trying things out. I'll try em out for the next two weeks or so and have reviews up of everything I recieved soon after that! So please don't lose hope in this blog and have a little patience. If you're curious about the things Im recieving; I have two boxes from Sephora, a box from Laura Geller, another from Sproos Shop designer headbands, one more box of ELF products, and my catch all box of my recent drugstore buys! I can garuantee that these upcoming weeks after my vacation will be packed with fun reviews! :)
Happy blogging and God Bless!