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! 

Products I Regret Buying: Hair Care

This is my first post of this kind and I hope I don't offend anyone since everyone has different liking and preferences. This post represents my personal experience with these products, if you love them, it is awesome but unfortunately they didn't work me. Just for reference, I have dark brown mid-length naturally curly fine hair, which can get frizzy at times. Sometimes they are really difficult to manage as they are frizzy but get weighed down really easily because they are fine. So, the products mentioned in this post didn't work for my hair type but they can definitely work for yours.

One n Only Argan Oil Smoothing Cream/ Styling Cream: This brand is available at Sally beauty supply and I received the sample sizes of smoothing cream and the styling cream when I bought their Argan oil, which works really well for me. However, recently I started noticing excessive hair fall but I wasn't able to put my finger on the culprit. My hair were literally falling out in huge chunks whenever I ran my fingers through. Few weeks ago, when I ran out of the smoothing cream I realized that the hair fall stopped completely suggesting that it was the cream behind the said condition of my hair. Even though I didn't buy it but I definitely regret using it.

Wella Professional Ocean Spritz: I have naturally curly/wavy hair so I usually do not use salt or any kind of texturizing sprays, and after using this one I am definitely not going to use any again. This spray literally made my hair feel very crunchy and dirty. It was just impossible to comb or even run my fingers through. Also, I tried it multiple times to see if I was doing something wrong. I tried it on wet hair, dry hair, freshly washed hair and also a day old hair but nothing worked. So I am definitely not going to use this spray or probably any salt spray again.

Garnier Fructis Style Curl Shaping Gel Spray: I have natural curls so I bought this spray to give them a more defined look, and since it is a gel spray so I expected it to be a little heavier but definitely not to the extent that it makes my hair look like third or fourth day dirty hair. Also, it made my hair feel hard and stiff, so I do regret buying it.

Schwarzkopf Got2b Dazzling Shine Hair Spray: I bought this hair spray to use as final touch up to add some extra shine. It has a very distinctive sweet smell, which is not bothersome to me as I am not very particular about smell of hair products unless it is super repelling. However, the problem is that even though it adds shine for the moment but that shine disappears within 10-15 minutes and your hair are back to where they were. So if you are like me, then under such scenario you will repeatedly keep spraying it and will end up with weighed down dirty looking hair, and that is why I really regret buying it.

Schwarzkopf Got2b Glossy Anti-frizz Shine Serum: I bought this serum because it claimed to get rid of the frizz along with providing shine and it does calm down the frizz and gives shine if you use enough product. However, it is very thick and heavy so it weighs down hair and the shine disappears after a while so I don't reach for it often. But the shine does stay longer with this product as compared to the shine spray.

Tresemme Fresh Start Dry Shampoo: I really love this brand in general but this dry shampoo really sucks. Dry shampoos are supposed to give you a day in between hair washes but this one takes away the possible in between hours too. Instead of making the hair look fresh, this dry shampoo makes them look a lot more oilier, weighed down and dirty. I tried using it a couple of times and got the same result without fail. Also, I tried rubbing it with my hands, with towel, with paper  but nothing at all worked.

Sunsilk Captivating Curls: I got this mousse in a set along with the shampoo and conditioner of the same line. It just didn't do anything for my hair. Even though I have naturally curly hair, I didn't see any more definition or texture than I usually have. So I regret buying it.

Have you tried any of these products? If yes, how did they work for you? If no, are you planning to try any?

Thank you for taking time to read 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!

Real Techniques Brush Alternatives NOT Dupes: Even More Affordable

Brushes are a necessity for some people and I am definitely one of them. But finding good quality affordable brushes is a challenge even though some companies are getting into the race. However, problems arises due to the lack of convenient locations or high shipping costs.  Real Technique brushes are one of the affordable and good quality brushes available in the market and recently Walmart has started carrying them. But I have found even more affordable alternatives. 

If you look at the picture above, all the brushes look similar except the color of the barrels, but the difference is that the first four are a different brand from the rest, which are Real Techniques brushes. I found these brushes on ebay for just $2.60 - $3.05 while Real Techniques brushes are above $10 for the individual ones. I bought them a few months ago so the prices may have increased or decreased. 

Round Brush

I have never seen this brand before, but as you can see in the picture it is either called Joursna or Joursno Professional brush. On ebay, there were two colors, pink and baby blue. But I went for pink because they look similar to Real Techniques line. 

Angled Brush - Sorry it looks dirty because I used it for Powder Foundation  

Tapered Brush

Stippling Brush

I checked several sellers and all have the same five styles, flat top, angled, rounded, stippling and tapered. I bought all except the flat top because I already have enough of those. As far as the quality is concerned, they are really soft, dense and synthetic. I have washed them several times and they have noticed no shedding at all whatsoever. Also, the bristles for the angled brush seem yellow, and it is because I have used it with powder foundation, so I am sorry about its color in the picture. 

Left: Round Brush; Right: Sigma F82

In the above picture, you can see the comparison between the round brush and Sigma F82. The only difference I feel is Sigma one is more dense and tight. Also, I feel that this round brush is more comparable to Real Techniques Buffing brush in terms of density. But they are not flimsy at all whatsoever. In addition, they clean up really easily and do not take too long to dry. I have been using them for over 6-7 months are they are holding up great so I would definitely recommend you to check these out as they are super inexpensive. If you want these brushes, it would be best you can search them as "Professional Powder Blush Brush Cosmetic Stipple Foundation Brush Makeup Tool" or some of these words and go for the cheapest option available.

Have you tried these brushes? If yes, do you like them? If no, are you going to try them?

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