elf cosmetics haul & review ♥

I have been a long-time fan of elf cosmetics and feel that they really have gotten better and better over time! I remember back in the day when elf was just a makeup website with a few $1 products here and there. While their products are for the most part still very affordable, I feel that they've continued to improve the quality of their products - making me a loyal fan! For this haul, I got several classic elf products that I use on a regular basis as well as some of their new palettes that I've been dying to try!

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Old Favorites:

 

Eyebrow Kit

I've already tried this eyebrow kit before and it has really worked for my eyebrows! In the past, I've used different powders and pencils but none have worked as well as these two eyebrow products do together. This kit includes both a darker cream on one side and a light brown powder on the other. The cream is great for shaping and the powder is perfect for filling in all the awkward gaps that are in my naturally sparse brows.

Powder Brush 

Of all the make-up brushes I own, this is my all-time favorite! While it's labeled as a powder brush, I've been using it most to blend out products like foundation, concealer, and blush. With its flat top, it does a fantastic job of blending out these products and eliminating any harsh lines. I would highly recommend this brush if you're looking for something that can do double duty by both applying products and blending them out! 

Concealer Palette 

I love this concealer palette because it's very easy to apply and the cream formula goes on smoothly! I like that the palette provides different shades of concealer because the tone of my skin can be inconsistent. Being able to mix and match my concealer allows me to get better coverage out of the product.

Blemish Control Face Primer 

The only thing I don't love about the elf primers is that the packaging can be very deceiving. I've taken apart the bottle before and there's a much smaller bottle inside that holds the actual primer product - making you think that there is more product in the bottle than there actually is.  Product wise, however, I love the smooth, water-like, feel of the elf primers and use them regularly as a base for the rest of my make-up!

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New (For Me) Products:

 

Blending Brush 

I'm always looking for new brushes to help blend out products and make things look as natural as possible. This blending brush does do a great job of blending out harsh lines, however, I wish it was a fuller brush and not quite so narrow as this makes blending things out a longer process. Since this brush is so narrow though, I think it will also be good for applying contouring color onto my cheeks. 

Angled Eyeliner Brush 

I received a couple of gel eyeliner pots for Christmas this year so I thought it was time I bought a brush that was actually designed for gel eyeliner. I've tried to use little concealer or eyebrow brushes to apply gel eyeliner but they really don't do the job well. Unfortunately, I haven't been all that successful with this eyeliner brush either. It dries out very quickly and becomes stiff and hard to use.

Powder Contour/Cream Contour/Bronzer Palette

Full disclosure - I already own and the love blush palette from elf so I was incredibly excited to try out the rest of their face palettes! I like to contour with both cream and powder to help with the staying power of the contour so I decided to purchase both formats of the palette. The dark contour shades on both of these palettes are matte which I love because it helps make the contour look more natural than sparkly bronzers. The silvery illuminating powder is good for reflecting light at the tops of the cheeks but is a little bit too bright on its own so I've been combining it with a little bit of matte blush to tone it down.

At the time that I purchased this haul, elf was running a promotion where they gave away a bronzer palette with each purchase so I got that one for free! The more palettes the merrier! The bronzer palette itself is pretty similar to the medium contour shades on the contour palette but it does include one sparkly bronzer that gives off a little bit more glow.

One thing I love about these palettes is that all of the squares in the palettes pop out so that you can mix and match whatever products you want to take with you or whichever ones are most convenient for you to use together! I plan on mixing both a light and dark contour shade with a couple of blush squares so that I can easily take a palette to the gym!

 

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I'm very happy with my latest elf haul and truly love their makeup just as much as I did when they first came onto the scene.  As a girl on a budget, I love being able to get a great quality product out of a relatively low cost and elf has always helped me do just that.

What are your favorite budget friendly make-up products? Let me know on Instagram or Twitter! I'm always on the lookout for more great deals! 

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Ipsy Glam Bag: November 2015

Ipsy is a monthly beauty subscription that gives subscribers 4-5 sample and full size products for $10 a month. All of the beauty samples also come in a handy little makeup bag. I love that all of Ipsy's products come in these adorable bags because they are insanely useful for holding just about anything!

This month's ipsy bag has a beautiful starry sky pattern which I loved! Despite the fact that I've been subscribed to ipsy for over a year, I still love receiving these makeup bags and am always finding new ways to use them - they're handy for storing and carrying nearly anything!

Absolute New York: Nano Liner

I love that this liner is specifically designed to help draw the perfect cat eye. As someone who wears the cat eye eyeliner style nearly every day, this is definitely a product I would have appreciated in my beginning cat-eye days. The liner is very thin which makes it much easier to make precise lines.  My only complaint is that the liner dried out halfway through my cat eye and I had to let it sit for 5 minutes before I could continue. I think I am going to stick to my go-to liquid eyeliner for my cat eyes but overall, I think this nano liner is a great product if you're looking to try a cat eye but haven't had much practice and need something that is easy to use!

Smashbox Cosmetics: Full Exposure Mascara

As I've said in my previous posts, I am not a mascara person because I still haven't figured out a reliable way to keep my stubborn eyelashes curled so as to prevent any and all mascara from stabbing me in the eye (If you have any suggestions or personal experience with this please share - I would love to hear from you!). This mascara goes on well but I don't love that the mascara globs pretty heavily on the tip of the brush. I'll be gifting this sample to someone else for the holidays. 

tre'StiQue: Mini Matte Lip Crayon

This is my favorite item from this month's ipsy bag! I am a huge sucker for any and all lip products - but especially for lip pencils/crayons. This lip crayon is just a touch pinker than my natural lip color and gives them a little boost to make them look more awake! This little lip crayon also has great staying power especially when I put a light layer of foundation over the top. 

Sinful Colors: Nail Polish

I've always been a big fan of the Sinful Colors nail polish line so I'm excited that I received this in my ipsy bag! The Sinful Colors line is very affordable and has a huge variety of colors to choose from. On top of that, You might not be able to see it in the picture but it's a beautiful deep sparkly red shade that I can't wait to try. 

Albertini International: Warm Love Pumpkin Exfoliating Mask

I love a good face mask so I was excited to try this Pumpkin Mask from Albertini. The mask goes on smoothly and tingles a little. While I don't love the pumpkin smell, it's a decent mask that I'm still happy to use. 

I also got a nice little bonus in my bag this month - a Pixi by Petra eyebrow set that I bought with my ipsy points. I love that ipsy allows you to review your bag for points because then I get to redeem cute little extras like this!

I liked but didn't love my ipsy bag this month. While I love my bag most of the time, my main complaint is that I often feel that the bag is not tailored enough to my specific beauty preferences. Through ipsy's online website, you can see all of the samples that were available each month along with which of the samples you received and this page always gives me serious FOMO. There are tons of samples that I would have loved to receive but for some reason they weren't chosen for me! I would love to see ipsy develop a better algorithm or even ask more specific questions to better determine my beauty profile. 

 

What did you think of your ipsy bag? Have any thoughts on a beauty subscription that I might like? Or one that might tailor more specifically to my beauty preferences? Shoot me a note! 

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