ELF: Amazing Matte Lip Forumula & A Possible Mac Dupe

ELF. is know for its inexpensive and great quality products. I have several of their products and I like most of them if not all, and most of my favorites are from the studio line. Their Matte Lip colors are my favorite matte formulas I own. A lot of people love the Revlon Matte lipsticks, but I found them very drying and uncomfortable, and never wore them without a gloss. However, these ELF lip colors are very smooth, comfortable and not drying at all. They are matte but definitely have a natural sheen to them. They have average lasting power, just like other normal lipsticks. Also, there is a possible Mac dupe in this line. I do not own the Mac shade but I have seen some comparisons. 

ELF Matte Lip Color

Along with the formula, the packaging of these lip colors is also very nice and sleek. They have a twist up tube and a sharper at the other end, which I forgot to show in the pictures. 

Indoor Lighting - Coral, Nearly Nude, Natural, Tea Rose, Praline & Rich Red

Coral: I won't call it coral, but more of a light peach shade. It is beautiful, goes on nicely and looks really good with smokey eyes. 

Nearly Nude: It is a very light, somewhat baby pink nude. I am not a fan of very light nude shades so I don't wear it much. Also, I have found that the formula of this particular shade is a little bit different. Even though it is not drying or clingy, but it does settle into the lines and crevices of the lips. And oddly enough, this is the only color from the line that does this. 

Natural: It is a beautiful everyday nudey pink color, which goes on nicely and looks good with everything. Is is no brainier kind of color, that can be used with or without other face makeup.  

Natural Lighting - Coral, Nearly Nude, Natural, Tea Rose, Praline & Rich Red

Tea Rose: This is one of my first purchases from this line and I absolutely love it. It is a purple toned mauve, which is not too overpowering and definitely appropriate for everyday looks. 

Praline: This is a true chocolate brown shade. I am personally not a fan of this color in general, whether in clothes, nail polish or anything so I don't wear it much. But it goes on nicely and feels good on the lips. 

Rich Red: This is a true red color. I do not have the Mac Ruby Woo but this is a possible dupe for that color. I haven't seen both of them together personally, but I have seen some comparison pictures and videos. So, if you have both, then please let me know if it is actually a dupe or if there is some difference between the two. 

Overall, I really enjoy the formula of this line. The only issue that I have is they do not have enough color choice. There are only six shades and I own them all and if they ever come out with new shades I would definitely get all of them. 

Thank you for taking time to ready this post, I hope you enjoyed it. Have a great day! 

NYX Glosses: Amazing & Affordable

NYX is a great affordable brand with amazing quality products. Their lip products are no less, especially lip glosses. I have few shades from all different categories available in the market, however, I can't find the where I placed my NYX Xtreme lip gloss so that is not included in the swatches. 

NYX Girls Gloss; NYX Mega Gloss; NYX Soft Matte Lip Creme; NYX Butter Gloss

 

All of them have nice and sleek packaging. The new releases, namely lip cremes and butter gloss come on stout tubes as compared to the traditional glosses. 

NYX Girls Gloss: The one shown in pictures is in the color Peach. The name defines the color perfectly and it is a true peach shade. It has a very subtle sweet scent and contains some glitter. Even though there is noticeable shimmer in it, I don't feel it to be gritty or bothersome. It has decent pigmentation and goes on smoothly.

Natural Light - Same order as above

NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss: I don't even need to say anything about this gloss because it is a cult favorite of the beauty community. The shade in the pictures is Beige, which is actually more pink than beige. The consistency is nice and smooth, however, it is a bit thicker than regular glosses but has good pigmentation. The only thing that can bother some people is the strong scent like licorice. I am not too sensitive to the scents so it is okay for me. 

Flash Light - Same order as above

NYX Soft Matte & Xtreme Lip Cream: The shade in the pictures is Antwerp, which is a matte corally peach color and have a sweet smell. Even though these are matte, but they are very smooth and does not feel drying at all. Also, these are pretty long lasting just like the Xtreme lip cremes. I find Soft Matte and Xtreme lip creme to be quite similar in the consistency and pigmentation except Xtreme lip creams are little bit glossy like regular lipsticks. 

 NYX Butter Gloss: These are the newest addition to the NYX gloss family and are a new obsession of the beauty community. The shade in the pictures is Strawberry Parfait, which is a bright blue toned pink. The pigmentation is nice and the gloss smells like bakery products to me. However, one thing that I can't stand about this gloss is the consistency. It is even more thicker than the Mega Gloss, which I find quite uncomfortable.  Also, it is a little sticky much like Mac glosses. So, personally this type is my least favorite, but that is just my personal preference. 

Have you tried any of the NYX glosses? If yes, which ones are your favorite? If no, which ones do you want to try?

Thank you for taking time to read this post, I hope you enjoyed it. Have a great day!

September 2013: Ipsy Bag

I am a regular subscriber to Ipsy bag for a while. I have tried almost all other subscription services that ship to Canada but this is the only one for now. Ipsy is pretty consistent with the quality and size of their samples as compared to some other services in the market. However, I must say that when I saw this months bag, I wasn't super excited about it. 

Septemper 2013 Ipsy Bag

This months bag contains 3 Freeman Masks, which can be found at Walmart for around $2-3 and are pretty popular. However, Ipsy sent sheet masks, which I believe are a new addition to the brand. Then there is a NYX eyeshadow, Cailyn Tinted Lip balm, Starlooks Kohl eyepencil and It's So Big Volumizing Mascara by Elizabeth Mott. 

Cailyn Tinted Lip Balm - Big Apple

Cailyn Tinted Lip Balm in Big Apple is a beautiful cherry red shade that comes in a glass packaging usually used for gel liners. Judging from its name I thought it is going to be a sheer lip balm but I was so wrong. It is super pigmented, goes on smooth and leaves a matte finish. It is absolutely stunning and my most favorite product from this months bag. 

NYX Eyeshadow - Hot Crystal (Left: 1 swipe; Right: Multiple swipes)

I have several single NYX shadows and I love their pigmentation but this particular one is not my favorite in terms of consistency. It is a creamy white shade with some shimmer and goes on super sheer in the first swipe and takes several coats to build up the the actual color, which still looks kind of splotchy. 

Top: Rimmel Scandaleyes - 1 Swipe; Middle: Starlooks eye pencil in Obsidian - 1 Swipe; Bottom: Starlooks eye pencil - Several Swipes.

The Starlooks kohl eye pencil is nothing special. It takes several swipes to get to the desired color. Also, it is not very smooth and these days almost all the drugstore liners have raised the bar for smoothness and lasting power so high that these kind of liners do not even stand a chance. 

I didn't open the It's so Big mascara because I have so many mascaras lying around to be used. However, I was reading the ingredients and it contains stearate, which I am allergic to which means that there is a possibility that other mascaras also do but I never paid much attention to the ingredients of the mascara. Can anyone clarify this to me,that if  you are allergic to certain ingredients then do you avoid them even in mascaras or just in products that come in direct contact with skin?

Extra Sample - 1 look out of Em Cosmetics Life Palette

This month an extra sample was included from Em Cosmetics which was kind of disappointing in the sense that the shadows and the blush are actually on a piece of paper and you need to peel off the plastic to use them. I give them props for the unique packaging but I have to say that it is not user friendly. I am not a fan of samples that come stuck on a paper whether they are of perfumes, skincare or cosmetics. I usually toss them out and I guess for this one too I'll just swatch them on my hand. I know this was just an extra but Michelle owns Em Cosmetics and she is also a part of Ipsy so they could have included one decent eye shadow pan like they do for Coastal scents or BH Cosmetics if nothing more. 

Are you subscribed to Ipsy? If yes, then what did you get? If no, then would you consider subscribing in future?

Thank you for taking time to read this post, I hope you enjoyed it. Have a great day!

Tarte: Gifts From The Lipstick Tree Achiote Color Collection

Tarte is one of my favorite blush brands from Sephora. It is a cruelty free, eco-chic brand. The amazonian clay blushes have a cult following because of their amazing lasting power and wide range of colors. This particular collection has been out for a while but it retailed for $85 so I never picked it up even though I absolutely loved the blush shade, which is exclusive to this kit. However, now this set is on sale for only $35 on Sephora website and that is the main reason behind this post. 

This set comes with three products: Maracuja Divine Shine Lip Gloss in Achiote, LipSurgence™ Natural Lip Luster in Achiote and Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Achiote.

Natural Lighting: Same order as above

Indoor Lighting: Same order as above

Maracuja Divine Shine Lip Gloss in Achiote: This is a corally pink gloss with some shimmer and thick consistency. It comes in a click pen form, which is not my favorite since it takes a while to come out and dispenses more product than needed. The gloss has a minty scent and feel to it, which is nice. Also, it is pretty opaque and gives decent coverage without any base. Overall, it is nice except the packaging. 

LipSurgence™ Natural Lip Luster in Achiote: Tarte LipSurgence are quite popular and comes in a twist up tube. This one is a shimmery coral, which leans more towards orange than pink as compared to the other two products in the set. Just like the gloss, it has a minty scent and feel to it. Even though there is shimmer, but the consistency is quite smooth and comfortable on the lips. Also, the shimmer may look intense in the swatch, but it is not that overpowering on the lips, so I like this product. 

Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Achiote: This is the product that inspired me to get this set. These blushes retail for $31 and this set is $35 right now which makes it an amazing deal. I absolutely love this blush, it is a matte pinky coral color. The consistency is very smooth and there is no fall out whatsoever. Also, the staying power is amazing. I would highly recommend this color. 

Result: This is an amazing set at a superb price. If you love amazonian clay blushes, then don't think anymore and just get it before it gets discontinued. 

Thank you for taking time to read this post, I hope you enjoyed it. Have a great day!

Sephora Favorites: Give Me Some Lip

Sephora recently came out with another favorites this month. It is a lip sampler with six lip products from different brands. The best thing is that it's only $30, which breaks down to $5 each. Also, the sizes are pretty generous except one. On the website the box looks pretty big, but I was surprised when I received it in the mail as it is barely the size of my hand, which is actually nice as it does not have useless bulky packaging. 

The packaging is really cute, it has a pink outer cover which slips off revealing a rose gold cardboard box inside. 

When you open the flip, it reveals all the lip products arranged in a row based on their height. 

L-R: Fresh Sugar Rose Tinted Lip Treatment, Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Bare Pink, Buxom Full-On Lip Polish in Dolly, Nars Lip Gloss in Turkish Delight, Bite Beauty High Pigment Pencil in Rhubarb, Tarte LipSurgence Lip Luster in Glitzy.

Natural Light - Same order as above

Indoor Lighting - Same order as above

 Fresh Sugar Rose Tinted Lip Treatment: This is one product that I was most disappointed about, especially because of the size. If you guys remember, this was a part of Sephora birthday gift last year and it is super tiny. And because of its small size, the old one that I have got mangled while application. 

Left: From the Sephora birthday set last year 

The product is 0.08 oz as compared to the full sized product, which is 0.15 oz for $23. 

Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Bare Pink: It is a creamy pale peachy color rather than pink. It has a really nice sweet smell, which is not overpowering by any means. The consistency is very smooth and has a decent pigmentation, but it won't show up on dark pigmented lips. It is 0.1 oz while the full size is 0.15 oz for $26. 

Buxom Full-On Lip Polish in Dolly: It is a mauvy plum shade with very finely milled iridescent multicolored shimmer. To me, it smells like winter holidays because the scent reminds me of holiday baking and those delicious coffee shop aromas. I know that is crazy, and I am definitely not an expert on smells but it just reminds me of that time. The pigmentation is quite nice, the glitter does not feel gritty and the color shows up well on pigmented lips. It is 0.07 oz, while the full size is 0.15 oz for $23. 

Nars Lip Gloss in Turkish Delight: This is one of the infamous lip glosses that I do not even need to talk about. But personally it is not my favorite because the color is so light and cool toned that it just does not work for my skin tone (NC 25) and my dark pigmented lips, even though it does have a decent color pigmentation. Also, it does not have any scent. It is 0.14 oz, while the full size is 0.28 oz for $29. 

Bite Beauty High Pigment Pencil in Rhubarb: This is hands down my favorite out of all the six lip products. It is a plumy mauve jumbo twist up lip pencil. The consistency is amazing, it is super smooth and shiny with superb color pigmentation.  I would buy this whole package just for this one product. It is 0.05 oz, while the full size is 0.09 oz for $28. So it is a little over half the size of the regular product. 

Tarte LipSurgence Lip Luster in Glitzy: Now, this is full sized product i.e. 0.1 oz and retails for $29 alone. So basically, you are getting everything else for $1, which is amazing. Tarte lipsurgence's have a reputation of their own. Everything about this product is good,  whether it is the twist up packaging, consistency or pigmentation. Also, this color is very different from the regular lip colors that I own. It is a very shiny coppery shade, which is not very commonly found. However, since it leans towards brown so it is very wearable. 

Result: I am really happy with this purchase and recommend it to everyone. Since the Tarte Lipsurgence itself covers the price of the whole set, so it is worth a shot. Additionally, as mentioned earlier, the Bite Beauty Pencil is also more than half the original size. The only disappointment is the Fresh tinted lip balm because of its size and difficulty to use, but other than that I absolutely love this set. This sampler set is a great way to try out different brands at an affordable price. 

Thank you for taking time to read this post, I hope you have a great day!