Drama

PRODUCTS

NYX Eye Liner in Extreme Black as base and on waterline
Naavah Cosmetics in Silver Moon on lid
Urban Decay in Secret Service in and above crease
Coastal Scents eye shadow in black on waterline & also in crease blended into Secret Service
Coastal Scents eye shadow in light blue and light silver under lower lashes
L'Oreal Voluminous Eyeliner in Black for the upper liner & wing
Rimmel Glam Eyes in Black on lashes

I should have done my brows too but didn't think about it. :x

The sample of Naavah Cosmetics I got from winning AprilAthena7's contest. I love the color and wanted to make some kind of look with it so here we are!

A few ELF Studio Blushes

Part 2 of pics and review of my ELF haul. This time it's the three blushes I picked up from ELF's Studio Line. As always, please enjoy! Let me know if you found this useful. :)


Side-by-side.

Closeup of packaging.

The label on the underside.

Swatches.

The following close-up pics caught the reflection of my camera flash bouncing off the compact's mirror. They are solid colors, it's just the flash making them look like they have stripes through them!


Pink Passion is a bright fluorescent pink. It is much more vibrant then is coming off in the pictures. It's a lighter tone, too. This blush is completely matte.

Candid Coral. I nicked it with my thumbnail when placing it for a picture. :( Anyway this blush is a peachy-pink color. It has tiny gold glitters in it. On the cheeks it is a shimmery peach with some orange undertones. It is similar to a few MAC Mineralized Blushes, Rhapsody in Two (Blush Duo) for one example.

Berry Merry is a raspberry color with small gold and rainbow glitters. The glitters in this blush are bigger and more noticeable than those in Candid Coral.

Review:
These blushes are $3 on eyeslipsface.com. They have 0.168 oz/4.75 g (that is the amount listed on the boxes they came in; the blushes themselves list a 0.097 oz/2.75 g, but that is the amount in their eyeshadow which is half the blushes size). Like ELF's Studio Eyeshadows, their Studio Line of blushes have packaging similar to NARS'. They are black plastic with a little window and little mirror above it. And like the eyeshadows, these blushes are very soft. They are very easily swatchable and are easy to pick up with a brush. All three are pretty sheer. Pink Passion and Berry Merry are easily buildable, but Candid Coral is harder to because of its light color.

Berry Merry comes off sparkly with a hint of color if you only put a little on, and will need to really build it if you want some color pay off. As I said though, it is easily buildable. Candid Coral also comes off more shimmery with a hint of color; however, because it is a much more natural-looking flush, I don't find it as a negative as I do with Berry Merry. Pink Passion comes off as a light-toned fluorescent pink. It is completely matte. This is my favorite because if I want a natural cheek color I can put a little bit on, and if I want a stronger cheek color I can put on another coat.

I believe that Pink Passion is the only matte blush ELF offers so far, which is unfortunate. Nothing wrong with shimmery blushes, but sometimes you want something that will look like a natural flush. Also, and this is a big negative for me, these give me tiny bumps on my cheeks. Not pimples really, just dry bumps. Someone else complained of this in a review of this product on eyeslipsface.com. I only saw the one person who had this problem, so I suspect it's just a sensitivity to whatever is in this product. I have really dry skin, and while it isn't really sensitive, maybe the dryness affects it? The Complexion Perfection powder gives me tiny bumps as well, but I still love it and use it. Review on that and the rest of my stuff is coming soon!

Thanks for reading!

ELF Studio Eye Shadows

I am finally getting around to my post of my ELF haul. I am not going to post everything...at least not all at once. I am doing this only to swatch and review the products in case anyone is in need of a "try-before-you-buy" by proxy. So, below are all of the ten shadows in ELF Studio Line, complete with swatches and a review of them. Hope you enjoy! :)


Packaging.

Label on the underside.


Mystic Moss is an olive green with gold shimmer.
Coffee Bean is a chocolate/manure brown with rainbow glitter.

Sand Dollar is a shimmery white.
Saddle is a brown with superfine rainbow shimmer.

Butter Cream is a shimmery golden yellow.
Pebble is a grayish taupe with superfine silver shimmer.

Raspberry Truffle is a shimmery reddish/brownish purple.
Amethyst is a royal purple color with fine purple shimmer.

Charcoal is a dark gray with blue undertones and rainbow glitter.
Wild Wheat is tan with gold glitter.



*Swatches in the top rows of both pictures have no base. Swatches in the bottom rows of both pictures use NYX Jumbo Pencil in milk as base.*

Review:
The first thing I noticed about these shadows is obviously the packaging. They are very sleek and chic. It is black plastic with the words "elf Single Eyeshadow" in white font on the front. Inside there is a small window with a small mirror above it. It is, as with most of the studio line, similar to NARS' packaging. These shadows are 0.097 oz./2.75 g.

These shadows are velvety soft to the touch. So soft, in fact, that when applying my makeup one morning I put Saddle on my lid, blended a different brand of shadow in my crease, went to put on liner and realized that Saddle had been blended mostly off. It is simply TOO soft. And as you can see in the swatches at the top, most of them have little pigmentation. Wild Wheat and Butter Cream are almost unintelligible with and without a base (although my skin tone plays a factor, obviously). Sand Dollar and Butter Cream also come off somewhat chalky.

A huge con is the small selection of colors. This collection is fairly new, so it is possibly that over time ELF may add more colors. But as of now it consists of four brown/brownish colors (Saddle, Raspberry Truffle, Pebble, Coffee Bean), two light yellowy colors (Wild Wheat, Butter Cream), two similar dark ones (Charcoal, Mystic Moss), one purple (Amethyst) and one white (Sand Dollar).

Another con, in my opinion, is that they are all shimmery or glittery. None of them are matte. I like shimmery or sparkly shadows, but to not have one matte color to choose from is unfortunate. There is a reason most cheap shadows are sparkly; it makes them look more pigmented. The only one I could call an almost matte is Pebble. The shimmers are very fine and fewer in number than the other shadows. Maybe if the collection of Studio Shadows grow, ELF will add some varying textures to the mix.

Recommendation:
If you want to just give one a try for now, I recommend Coffee Bean. I wear this in my crease on top of another brown almost everyday. It is a nice color and has lovely rainbow glitters in it. Definitely my favorite. Pebble is a close second.

Thanks for reading! <3

*These products were bought with my own money and my opinions are not influenced by anyone.

NYX Sale

Cherry Culture is having a 25% off sale on all NYX cosmetics through this Tuesday May 25th!



Add any NYX items you want to your cart, click on your cart, and enter code NYX25.