Carolyn, will you make me pretty? (E.L.F. Review)
When my sister and I were very, very young, my paternal grandparents and their youngest daughter live only about twenty miles from us. Because my dad's relationship was/is a bit strained with his folks, we didn't see them every day. But they were close enough that my sister and I regularly visited.
My aunt Carolyn is only about 12 years older than I am (less than a decade older than my sister). She was young enough not to seem old and crusty to a couple of girls under ten, but old enough to rank as way cool and mature to our young minds. Whenever we visited, my sister and I would beg her to "make us pretty." Mostly, this meant that she used her "big girl" make ups and hair products on us. Don't get the idea that she made us into little street walkers. During this time in our lives, we lived on a large estate and mostly ran around naked, covered in mud and grass stains. Cleaning us up and making us look "pretty" didn't take a lot of product. Nonetheless, the transformation from forest-urchin to fairy princess felt like a positively magical process. It's still one of my fondest childhood memories.
It's also one of the reasons I have a real fondness for the girlie-girl stuff.
So, I was a very happy forest-urchin this morning when Stencil presented with me a bubble envelop filled with my order from Eyes Lips Face Cosmetics. The magic wand needed for the transformation to princess had arrived! And only six days after I put in the order, even!
Love love love love the stuff. I won't tell you about the gifts for the Girlfriend, as she won't be getting them for awhile, yet, and has no idea what I got, but I'll run down the skinny on the other items,
Mascara, noire- It was a buck. It was black. I was happy. Additional coolness, though, one tube comes with regular mascara on one end and waterproof on the other. Nice. Nicer still, the texture isn't sticky or clumpy. My lashes are still fairly soft and pliant, even after the two coats I normally apply.
Tone Corrector/Concealer, Tone 1 (very pale, like yours truly) -Nicely yellow, like it should be to properly cover redness. I had gotten away from using concealers, as they are generally heavier than I like. Which left me using foundations to cover the redness I get from my dry skin. Which doesn't cover as well and I ended up using it all over in order to get a truly flawless look. But I hate all of that make up in the summer. So, I decided to give their concealer a try. It's nice, no to sticky, no too heavy. It mostly relies on the yellow tint to cover instead of a zinc ozixe-like barrier. It blends in well, too, with my skin tone. So I won't be needing to cover the whole of my face. Which is exactly what I was hoping for. As for texture, I can't even really tell where I am wearing it and wear I'm not. Very nice.
Clarifying Pressed Powder, Tone 1 -Summer is coming and, while I have dry skin, I live in Michigan, one of the wettest places in the world (really, it's a fact). I hate the oil-slick look. I was happy to see that ELF had a corn silk-based pressed powder. It's a fairly lightweight product, both in texture and tinting, which is what I wanted. And it was a buck. I'm happy with the product. My only complaint is that the compact it comes in doesn't have enough room in it for the applicator, which makes it a little bit difficult to carry in a purse. However, I usually use my own applicators, which don't fit in any compacts. So, it's a minor complaint.
All Over Color Stick, Lilac Petal -I don't use much blush, but this is such a nice soft color, I couldn't resist it. Occasionally, it's nice to look like one has seen the sun at some point in one's life (did I mention how pale I am?). Also, this can be used on eyes and lips, as well. It's lightweight, too. One I blended it in, I couldn't feel it on my cheeks, at all.
Shimmering Facial Whip, Pink Lemonade -L'Oreal used to make a product very similar product. I largely used it on my eyes when I wanted to highlight them, but not look like I was really wearing any eyeshadow. This is pretty much the exact same product. Except it is in a tube instead of a pot. And it is also $9 less than the L'Oreal version was. Back in 1991. Gotta love that. The shimmer isn't one of those disco-shimmer kind of things. I promise, you won't think of glitter when you see the product. It just has a nice touch of shimmer, giving my winter-skin a nice lift. Which it needs.
Brightening Eyeliner, Plum -Not too heavy an eyeliner, I'll probably use it for daytime (I like a bit more color saturation for night use). What I didn't expect, for a buck, is that it came with a sharpener. Cool.
Brightening Eye Color, Silver Lining -I had trouble picking which of these little four-color sets I wanted. All of them were such nice selections. I am really happy that I took this one. I like to think that I am pretty good with the eye make up. So Stencil is used to seeing my eyes done up nicely. But, after I put this on, he even said "Wow!" The color saturation is perfect, with these. The color is there, without evoking the "working girl" feeling. The shadows are fairly matte, just the tiniest hint of shimmer. Definitely "eye brightening" in over-all effect.
Custom Eyes, Dusk and Wisteria -These have a little more shimmer than the Brightening set, but not obnoxiously so. They don't look like you raided a 15 year-olds make-up kit. The colors, again, are a nice saturation without being too heavy. They blend nicely, too, so that you can get a really nice shadowing effect. The Dusk, for example, when applied thickly, looks almost black, but can be blended down to an indigo.
Custom Lips, Earth Rose and Sugar Plum -Love love love. Not heavy or sticky at all. They are more color saturated, by far, than a lip gloss, but they are a much, much more sheer than a typical lipstick. Not sticky at all, they go on smoothly. I have been wearing the Sugar Plum for about four hours, now, and the color is still there and my lips are still soft.
Therapeutic Conditioning Balm, Blackberry Creme- This may be my favorite item. I have very dry lips. Even when I was younger and didn't have dry skin, my lips would dry out a lot. This is a really nice, moist gloss with the tiniest hint of tint. My lips feel really well quenched and nicely soft. Stencil couldn't stop kissing them, when I asked him to give them a trial run.
So far, I have had no skin irritations or allergy symptoms from any of the products. And, as we all know, I am the queen of allergies. So, I am a happy camper.
Now, for my only complaint: The Custom Eyes and Lips are supposed to go into a four slot compact that I ordered. It wasn't in my package. It appears that it was supposed to be there. There is no phone number on the packing slip to call, which makes things more difficult than I would like it to be. But, the procedure seems to be to fill out a form on-line with your problem and they will address it. I have filled out the form and already gotten the automatically generated email back, confirming that they got it. Hopefully, that will take care of the problem and I will have my compact soon. I'll let you know if I have any troubles.
My aunt Carolyn is only about 12 years older than I am (less than a decade older than my sister). She was young enough not to seem old and crusty to a couple of girls under ten, but old enough to rank as way cool and mature to our young minds. Whenever we visited, my sister and I would beg her to "make us pretty." Mostly, this meant that she used her "big girl" make ups and hair products on us. Don't get the idea that she made us into little street walkers. During this time in our lives, we lived on a large estate and mostly ran around naked, covered in mud and grass stains. Cleaning us up and making us look "pretty" didn't take a lot of product. Nonetheless, the transformation from forest-urchin to fairy princess felt like a positively magical process. It's still one of my fondest childhood memories.
It's also one of the reasons I have a real fondness for the girlie-girl stuff.
So, I was a very happy forest-urchin this morning when Stencil presented with me a bubble envelop filled with my order from Eyes Lips Face Cosmetics. The magic wand needed for the transformation to princess had arrived! And only six days after I put in the order, even!
Love love love love the stuff. I won't tell you about the gifts for the Girlfriend, as she won't be getting them for awhile, yet, and has no idea what I got, but I'll run down the skinny on the other items,
Mascara, noire- It was a buck. It was black. I was happy. Additional coolness, though, one tube comes with regular mascara on one end and waterproof on the other. Nice. Nicer still, the texture isn't sticky or clumpy. My lashes are still fairly soft and pliant, even after the two coats I normally apply.
Tone Corrector/Concealer, Tone 1 (very pale, like yours truly) -Nicely yellow, like it should be to properly cover redness. I had gotten away from using concealers, as they are generally heavier than I like. Which left me using foundations to cover the redness I get from my dry skin. Which doesn't cover as well and I ended up using it all over in order to get a truly flawless look. But I hate all of that make up in the summer. So, I decided to give their concealer a try. It's nice, no to sticky, no too heavy. It mostly relies on the yellow tint to cover instead of a zinc ozixe-like barrier. It blends in well, too, with my skin tone. So I won't be needing to cover the whole of my face. Which is exactly what I was hoping for. As for texture, I can't even really tell where I am wearing it and wear I'm not. Very nice.
Clarifying Pressed Powder, Tone 1 -Summer is coming and, while I have dry skin, I live in Michigan, one of the wettest places in the world (really, it's a fact). I hate the oil-slick look. I was happy to see that ELF had a corn silk-based pressed powder. It's a fairly lightweight product, both in texture and tinting, which is what I wanted. And it was a buck. I'm happy with the product. My only complaint is that the compact it comes in doesn't have enough room in it for the applicator, which makes it a little bit difficult to carry in a purse. However, I usually use my own applicators, which don't fit in any compacts. So, it's a minor complaint.
All Over Color Stick, Lilac Petal -I don't use much blush, but this is such a nice soft color, I couldn't resist it. Occasionally, it's nice to look like one has seen the sun at some point in one's life (did I mention how pale I am?). Also, this can be used on eyes and lips, as well. It's lightweight, too. One I blended it in, I couldn't feel it on my cheeks, at all.
Shimmering Facial Whip, Pink Lemonade -L'Oreal used to make a product very similar product. I largely used it on my eyes when I wanted to highlight them, but not look like I was really wearing any eyeshadow. This is pretty much the exact same product. Except it is in a tube instead of a pot. And it is also $9 less than the L'Oreal version was. Back in 1991. Gotta love that. The shimmer isn't one of those disco-shimmer kind of things. I promise, you won't think of glitter when you see the product. It just has a nice touch of shimmer, giving my winter-skin a nice lift. Which it needs.
Brightening Eyeliner, Plum -Not too heavy an eyeliner, I'll probably use it for daytime (I like a bit more color saturation for night use). What I didn't expect, for a buck, is that it came with a sharpener. Cool.
Brightening Eye Color, Silver Lining -I had trouble picking which of these little four-color sets I wanted. All of them were such nice selections. I am really happy that I took this one. I like to think that I am pretty good with the eye make up. So Stencil is used to seeing my eyes done up nicely. But, after I put this on, he even said "Wow!" The color saturation is perfect, with these. The color is there, without evoking the "working girl" feeling. The shadows are fairly matte, just the tiniest hint of shimmer. Definitely "eye brightening" in over-all effect.
Custom Eyes, Dusk and Wisteria -These have a little more shimmer than the Brightening set, but not obnoxiously so. They don't look like you raided a 15 year-olds make-up kit. The colors, again, are a nice saturation without being too heavy. They blend nicely, too, so that you can get a really nice shadowing effect. The Dusk, for example, when applied thickly, looks almost black, but can be blended down to an indigo.
Custom Lips, Earth Rose and Sugar Plum -Love love love. Not heavy or sticky at all. They are more color saturated, by far, than a lip gloss, but they are a much, much more sheer than a typical lipstick. Not sticky at all, they go on smoothly. I have been wearing the Sugar Plum for about four hours, now, and the color is still there and my lips are still soft.
Therapeutic Conditioning Balm, Blackberry Creme- This may be my favorite item. I have very dry lips. Even when I was younger and didn't have dry skin, my lips would dry out a lot. This is a really nice, moist gloss with the tiniest hint of tint. My lips feel really well quenched and nicely soft. Stencil couldn't stop kissing them, when I asked him to give them a trial run.
So far, I have had no skin irritations or allergy symptoms from any of the products. And, as we all know, I am the queen of allergies. So, I am a happy camper.
Now, for my only complaint: The Custom Eyes and Lips are supposed to go into a four slot compact that I ordered. It wasn't in my package. It appears that it was supposed to be there. There is no phone number on the packing slip to call, which makes things more difficult than I would like it to be. But, the procedure seems to be to fill out a form on-line with your problem and they will address it. I have filled out the form and already gotten the automatically generated email back, confirming that they got it. Hopefully, that will take care of the problem and I will have my compact soon. I'll let you know if I have any troubles.