E.L.F. Cyber Monday Haul and First Impressions

E.L.F. ran a 50% off plus free shipping sale on Cyber Monday, so I took the opportunity to pick up a few things. They just came in yesterday, and I thought you might be interested in some of the newer items on the site
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I picked up two of the HD Blushes, two Baked Blushes, one Baked Bronzer, the Eye Refresh, one Jumbo Lip Gloss Stick, and the Endless Eyes Pro Mini Eyeshadow Palette in Natural.

St. Lucia, Passion Pink, Pinktastic

Here are swatches of the St. Lucia Baked Bronzer, Passion Pink Baked Blush, and Pinktastic Baked Blush. St. Lucia is a very light, warm bronzer with a subtle hint of sparkle. I used it all over today, much the way I would a MAC Mineral Skin Finish, and it just helped knock the chill off of my uber-pale face. I had to use different products to contour and add color. The Passion Pink blush is also very light and warm, with more of a peach tone than I had expected from the online photos. I thought this would be more of a plummy color, but this looks like it could dupe NARS Orgasm. I haven't checked them against each other, yet, but this is definitely a peachy pink. The Pinktastic blush is actually a very pretty gold highlighter. Again, not what I was expecting, but not a disappointment. I bought this thinking that it would be a good dupe for one of my favorite MAC highlighters, Moon River, that is now discontinued. They're actually not even close to similar, but I think I'll get a lot of use out of this one, anyway. It's just lovely. It's just not pink.

Left: Moon River. Right: Pinktastic.

Left. Moon River. Right: Pinktastic. Um...it's not pink. Nope. Not pink at all.

I started to swatch the entire eyeshadow palette, but decided that a few representative shades would probably be just as informative. If you want, I can do an entire, in-depth review on the palette, though. Let me know in the comments. I realized right off the bat that these shadows were E.L.F.'s standard hit-or-miss grade, unfortunately. Believe it or not, there are five swatches in the above photo. The very first one barely showed up, and it was a mid-tone brown. The second swatch is super powdery. The third is supposed to be a glittery blackened gray, but very little glitter transferred to my skin. The last two are actually very nice, and they're demi-mattes. Honestly, I expected the least from them, and they ended up being the best out of the bunch. Originally, I purchased this to use for film makeup, and I intend to keep playing around with it. Maybe it will surprise me. Something tells me I'm probably going to end up having to break down and get the Coastal Scents 28 neutral Palette, though. I am wearing two shades from the palette on my eyes today: a soft gold and the demi-matte ecru shown above. So far, they're doing pretty well.

Here are swatches of the HD Blushes in Showstopper and Encore, and the Jumbo Lip Gloss Stick in Movie Star. Showstopper is a gorgeous berry with shimmer, and Encore is a shocking pink with shimmer. These blushes are scarily pigmented--a little dab'll do ya! I've not tried wearing them on my cheeks, yet, but they didn't want to come off of my hand. The formula is creamy, and I prefer the consistency to that of my Make Up For Ever HD Blush, honestly. Be prepared to work quickly, though, because they dry almost instantly.

Movie Star looks like a blood red in the stick, but comes off as a very natural red. Sort of like the color you'd get after kissing for a few minutes. I am surprised by how much I like this product. It's sheer upon first application, but the color can be built up by layering over time. The color starts out glossy, but dries down to a stain-like finish. It's long-lasting, but non-drying, and there's no taste or scent. Seriously, I really like this product.

Movie Star upon first application. It's not red, but it's the perfect flush.

The Eye Refresh is a clear liquid that you apply with a rollerball applicator. The packaging is nifty, but I couldn't tell where any liquid came out. I just felt the cool metal ball rolling under my eyes. It's pleasant, but I think you get a similar effect with an ice cube for free. I'll keep playing with it and report back if anything miraculous occurs.

Packaging-wise, I have no complaints. The HD Blushes are dead ringers for MUFE's packaging. The baked items are housed in functional, if not flashy, compacts. The palette is sleek, sturdy plastic with a usable mirror. As I said before, the Eye Refresh looks cool (even if it does feel a little cheap). The only thing I'm not thrilled over is the Lip Gloss Stick. I love how it's made--especially the twist up design--but the white coloring is killing me. The first time I used it, red product smeared all over the top portion, and it just looks messy. Making the package color match the lip color would look much cleaner.

Have any of you tried these products? What did you think? Let me know in the comments.

How Glossy is Your Box?: August Glossybox Opening

Hot dog! I somehow managed to get my August Glossybox in August!!! How cool is that?! This is going to be really long and amazingly picture-heavy, so let's just get right to it. I can, in all honesty, say that this is the best Glossybox we've had yet!

Immediately upon opening, we have the increasingly unnecessary GlossyMag. I said it last month, and I'll say it again: this is useless. *Spoiler Alert* There's nothing neon in the box. 

The pretty pink box that I've yet to figure out how to repurpose this month. Any ideas? Leave 'em in the comments!

This month's insert with the theme. August was "Pure Luxury", and they weren't kidding!



The items, along with brief descriptions and prices for the full-sized versions.



And the inside! This is what I saw as soon as I popped off the lid.

Here's a new one: a coupon for a free gift with purchase. That's nice. Probably won't use it, but I appreciate the gesture.

Here's the item I was most excited for: Ole Henriksen Truth Serum Collagen Booster! It's a vitamin C serum, and supposely works wonders on dullness. I've been wanting a vitamin C serum forever, it seems, and I've really enjoyed using it over the past couple of days. I actually have seen a difference in the "glow" of my skin.

Sorry this is fuzzy. I did this unboxing during Hurricane Isaac, and was having to go pretty quick, since we could have lost power at any moment. Plus, let's face it, I'm a horrible photographer. This is the bottle of serum, and it's a very generous sample. The size is .5 oz, or half the full-size. It's about the size of a nail polish, and since you only use a drop or two at a time, should last a good, long while.

Next up, we have the Biolage Exquisite Oil.

This is a small sample, but as with the serum, it only takes a drop. I used this on the ends of my hair before pulling it into a side pony, and my frizzy, wavy, crazy hair obeyed. That's unusual.

This product just plain intrigues me. It's a face primer, but has decent-sized flecks of gold floating in it.

Do you see them? It's like Goldschlager! How on Earth does that work?!

Truth be told, it works really well. The consistency of the primer is very smooth and light, non-greasy, and doesn't feel silicone-based. The gold flecks don't show up too horribly on skin, either. You just end up with a pretty glow. I used it underneath my Rimmel Clean Slate, which has a tendency to feel really heavy and look a little ashy. Not only did I not feel the urge to run and tear the make up off of my face after a few hours, my makeup did look brighter, and it stayed put nicely, even in crazy Hurricane humidity. The full-size is only $20, with is not bad at all, and this is nearly full-sized. I have a long time to play with it, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how it does in the long run.

Here's another highly anticipated product! See, each month, Glossybox varies a couple of items. Sometimes it's by style (like half of subscribers get an eyeshadow and half get a lipgloss--that sort of thing), and sometimes it's by color. That's how this month's went, and I was dying to know which color of this gorgeous Illamasqua nail polish I was going to get! This Purity, and it's just lovely. It reminds me of when I played an Angel in a super-fun production of Anything Goes. Our names were Purity, Charity, Chastity, and Virtue (me), and we had a couple of costumes that were very close to this color, only slightly pinker. No one else may care, but it made me smile.

The color is much brighter in person. It's a rich, vibrant peach, and I think it'll be the perfect nude for my skin tone. I have not tried this yet, but plan to tonight. I've been waiting for the storm to completely pass, since clean-up can be a bi--I mean, it can chip your polish. Yeah, that's it...



The other variable in the box was this ridiculously, incredibly, even-if-I-could-I-don't-think-I-could expensive, thirty-five dollar lip glaze from Ellis Faas. 

The packaging is beyond cool. Thomas said I should definitely carry it everywhere I go, since it'll work on both werewolves and vampires, and he wants to know I'm safe. I'm glad to know he cares.

The color I got was L209 (Toffee Beige) in the Milky Lips collection. I don't know why I even included swatches, since they look nothing like this in person. The color is, like the Illamasqua, a beautiful peachy-nude.

I wore this yesterday, and was pleasantly surprised at how moisturizing and lightweight it was, and at how long the color lasted. Of course, for $35, I should probably expect to be all those things while tap dancing and balancing my checkbook. Still and all, I think this might be the first nude lipcolor that has ever worked for me. It's just gorgeous for redheads.

Here's one last look at all of the products, side by side. These are some impressive products at some impressive sizes. Good job, Glossybox, and thank you!

Oh! In case you're curious, here's the price breakdown for each item:

Ole Henriksen   $24 for .5 oz
Biolage   $1.14 for .16 oz
Touch in Sol   $18.76 for 1.06 oz
Illamasqua   $14 for Full-Sized Item
Ellis Faas   $35 for Full-Sized Item

Total Worth of Glossybox   $92.90
Total Paid for Glossybox   $21.00

That means that this box was actually worth the price of almost four and a half Glossyboxes. Wowzers.

Also, if you were wondering, the nail polish I was wearing in the pictures was Fast Track by China Glaze.