e.l.f. Pink Passion Studio Blush Swatches

Is there really anything better than a $3 blush? This bright pink shade from e.l.f.'s studio line may look like a crazy neon shade in the pan, but it actually starts out quite pale, so you can build up the shade to whatever intensity you like.

This product was actually pretty hard to photograph because it's so bright, but with a little color adjusting I got it to look pretty accurate on screen!

This swatch is actually several layers of color to show you guys how you can build up the intensity - you can definitely get a subtle look with this blush if you just apply a tiny amount! Totally versatile!

XOXO,

Ally

Stila One Step PrimeColor - Review & Swatches

Stila One Step PrimeColor is described as a "primer, eye shadow, highlighter, lip color, cheek color, and bronzer," and while I suppose you could use the product for all of those things, I personally found that it only worked well for me on my face. The texture is very thick and creamy, so it felt too heavy for my lips and was hard to work with on my eyes. But as a blush or bronzer (or a highlighter, with the appropriate shades), I actually liked this product a lot. I wore it on my cheeks and set it with powder, and it lasted longer than my blush normally does on its own. It does take a little bit of work to blend, but it lasts a long time and I like the soft texture a lot. Both the shades that I received samples of with my order were very natural, but they could be made more exciting by layering a brighter blush over them.

The problem I have with these is that they're marketed as a lip color, eye shadow, blush...and they're really only useful as a face product. So while I really do like them on my cheeks and face, the fact of the matter is that they don't really work as promised. They're not a bad product if you want to spend the money on a nice, long-lasting cream blush, but don't expect them to do anything more.

 Rating: 3/5
The product isn't bad, but it doesn't live up to half of the claims that it makes.


XOXO, Ally

Tiny Hot Topic & Wet Seal Haul

A little while ago my friends and I took a mini road trip off campus and ending up stopping at a mall - which was particularly exciting since I haven't been to an actual mall in forever! There was a gigantic Sephora which was probably the most temptation I've ever experienced in one place, but thankfully I survived without squandering my life's savings! I did, however, grab a few sale things from Hot Topic and a couple of pieces of jewelry from Wet Seal.

Now I don't usually frequent Hot Topic, even for makeup, but I saw a few things on clearance that caught my eye - a set of two mini nail polishes for under a dollar, and some blushes that were also on sale, I think for a dollar or two. I also saw a lonely Kill Audio comic book in the clearance bin so I obviously grabbed it without a second thought - and if anyone actually happens to know the Kill Audio comics, please just be my best friend right now.

From the pictures you can see that the blushes do have a bit of shimmer, but it's actually not overpowering once you swipe a brush across them (and speaking of brushes, the ones included aren't awful, but I do prefer to use my own). These are heavily pigmented and I'm assuming they're intended to be that way, but I prefer to use only the tiniest amount when I wear these. I've found it's pretty easy to just barely touch your brush to the product and apply it, and then repeat as many times as you need to build the color. That way you don't get too much pigment at once, and you can build the intensity to the amount that you want.

At Wet Seal I decided on two necklaces (it was buy one get one 50% off, I believe). The first one is just a cute jointed owl, which I've been wearing a lot lately. The other one has a dragonfly (hint hint to the people who had heard of Kill Audio) and a few other charms hanging off of it - it's pretty long, so I don't wear it as often because it really only looks nice with certain outfits.

And that's all I ended up buying, unless you count an iced vanilla latte!

And I hope you all had a wonderful Star Wars day - I'm watching The Empire Strikes Back in my dorm room at this very moment! I would have done a Star Wars look to celebrate but ... I forgot. Next year, next year.

XOXO, Ally

CVS Beauty Clearance - Haul and Swatches

Guys, I look like SUCH a stereotypical lazy beauty blogger right now. I'm in my pajamas, my hair is up in a towel, I have a green face mask all over my face (not like it would go anywhere else) and I'm writing up a blog post about makeup. Oh gosh, what has my life become? (Oh right - super-mega-awesome-foxy-hot, that's what it's become.)

Anyway, my local CVS finally busted out their beauty clearance, after days and days of checking in with no luck. I saw them putting out the stickers two days ago and planned to actually go on a hardcore CVS shopping spree yesterday, but there was a major snowstorm yesterday so I was basically confined to my house. But today I managed to stop in twice, and completely shock my mom with the amount of makeup that a single person could purchase at one time.

(From left to right.)
Loreal HiP Shocking Shadow Pigments in 102 (Exciting): 75% off of $14.49 = $3.49
Rimmel London Stay Matte Clarifying Matte Foundation in 100 (Ivory): 75% off of $7.99 = $1.99
Peacock ring from Payhalf: $4.50
CoverGirl Outlast Smoothwear Lip Liner in 100 (Blush): 50% off of $9.49 = $4.75
Milani Lipstick in 32 (Berry Rich): $6.79
Revlon ColorBurst Lipstick in 001 (Lilac): 75% off of $11.29 = $2.82
CoverGirl Continuous Color Lipstick in 565 (Rose Cashmere): 50% off of $8.29 = $4.15
CoverGirl Wetslicks Amazemint Lipgloss in 660 (Happy House): 50% off of $7.99 = $3.99
CoverGirl Wetslicks Amazemint Lipgloss in 615 (Plum Crazy): 50% off of $7.99 = $3.99
CoverGirl Wetslicks Amazemint Lipgloss in 610 (Tickled Pink): 50% off of $7.99 = $3.99
CVS Purifying Mint Masque: $4.59
Almay Pure Blends Foundation in 140 (Buff): 75% off of $11.49 = $2.87
Almay Pure Blends Loose Finishing Powder in 100 (Translucent Matte): 75% off of $15.99 = $3.99
Rimmel London Colour Rush Quad Eyeshadow in 001 (Smokey Noir): 75% off of $8.49 = $2.07
Loreal HiP Shine Struck Liquid Lipcolor in 662 (Arresting): 75% off of $14.49 = $3.62
Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss in 200 (Lilac Pastelle): 75% off of $9.99 = $2.49
Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss in 160 (Firecracker): 75% off of $9.99 = $2.49
Revlon ColorStay Mineral Bronzer in 040 (Golden Bronze): 75% off of $13.99 = $3.49
Maybelline New York Expert Wear Blush in 100 (Mocha Velvet): 50% off of $5.99 = $2.99
Total: $66.57
Total value: $181.82
Money saved: $115.25, 63% of total value

We'll start with the lest beauty-related item that I got, although of course I only got it because I could use it with my makeup. It's actually a votive candle holder that was sitting all alone in the old Christmas items section, on sale for 50% off (originally 2/$5 or $2.99 each, I got this one for $1.49). I figured it would be perfect to hold my smaller brushes or my eyeliners and mascaras, since the cup I currently have them in is getting a little overstuffed.

Next, we have the foundations and things that I have yet to open and test, and a few other random assorted items that aren't really makeup. It's pretty much the misfit group, and I'll probably update this section as I test these out.
(From left to right.)
Rimmel London Stay Matte Clarifying Matte Foundation in 100 (Ivory): To be honest, from what I've read online I don't expect this to be the best foundation ever - but a sale is a sale, and I'm never opposed to testing new foundations, especially when they're wonderfully cheap. My face does get a little oily sometimes, so anything with the promise of 'matte' at least gets a chance in my book.
Almay Pure Blends Foundation in 140 (Buff): My opinion from the above foundation also applies here - I'm iffy on whether this will work well or not, but I figured clearance was the perfect time to experiment. This one is 97.4% natural and has SPF 20, while the Rimmel foundation does not.
Almay Pure Blends Loose Finishing Powder in 100 (Translucent Matte): Up until now, I never owned or used any sort of finishing powders, mostly because I only ever used powder foundation. But I figured it's kinda an important thing to at least add to my makeup collection, so I pretty happy to see this 75% off
Peacock ring from Payhalf: Yeah, so there's one thing thrown in here that's not from CVS, but oh well. There's a Payhalf right near CVS and my mom wanted to see if there were any super-cheap black skirts for my little sister to wear to her band concert, so we popped in there for a few minutes - and when I saw this ring, I had to have it. It was probably the fastest shopping decision I've ever made, actually.
CVS Purifying Mint Masque: I saw this mentioned by a few beauty bloggers recently so I figured I would pick it up the next time I made it to CVS. I currently have it slathered all over my face, and it feels pretty nice and refreshing, despite the fact that I look a tiny bit crazy. (Update: I just rinsed it off my face and my skin feels incredibly smooth! I'm definitely going to keep using this and see if my skin improves at all.)

Revlon ColorStay Mineral Bronzer in 040 (Golden Bronze): I typically use the Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer that came in my Glamour Revolution Palette, but to be honest, dragging out that huge palette every day can get tedious. So one of the things I was looking for at CVS was another nice bronzer. This one from Revlon is fairly light, which is nice because I have a pretty fair skintone. It does seem to have a bit of shimmer to it, but nothing too overpowering. The actual poweder has a domed shape in the case, and unfortunately I knocked it off of my desk while I was taking pictures and the rounded part broke off - you can see what I'm talking about in the pictures. I'm a little bummed about that, but to be fair, it was mostly my fault. I'll probably crush it up tomorrow and either use it as loose powder, or try to press it with some rubbing alcohol.
Maybelline New York Expert Wear Blush in 100 (Mocha Velvet): I used to use a Clinique blush that was similar to this shade, but a little pinkier - I believe it was called Dusty Rose or something similar to that. Anyway, I picked this up because I have a lot of shimmery bright pink blushes, but not a lot of more subdued brown tones. I like that this brush is a little more substantial compared to the tiny one that came in the Revlon Bronzer, but I'll probably still use my own blush brushes for this.

Loreal HiP Shocking Shadow Pigments in 102 (Exciting): Deciding which of these HiP pigments to get was incredibly difficult; I finally settled on this one because I didn't think I needed any more neutral colors and I probably would never use a bright pink, blue, or green. The little brush included with this is actually not as useless as most drugstore brushes are, but you can't go wrong with your own brushes, either. This pigment has a super gorgeous pink shimmer to it that I really like a lot.
Rimmel London Colour Rush Quad Eyeshadow in 001 (Smokey Noir): So I bought this mostly out of nostalgia - no, the black isn't the most pigmented and the shimmer is a little weak, but this was one of the first eyeshadow quads I bought when I was first getting into makeup and the black in this palette was the first eyeshadow I ever lined my eyes with (I used to stick with liners pretty exclusively). It's become a makeup staple in a way, just because it would be strange to see my makeup collection without it.

Milani Lipstick in 32 (Berry Rich): This wasn't on sale, but I bought it because I had seen a swatch on Temptalia and it looked gorgeous, and I'm a huge fan of bright lipsticks. It reminds me a little bit of a Revlon lipstick I have in 725 (Love That Red) because they're both so bright, but the Milani one definitely has a pinker tone to it. It also has a strange smell, like a strong berry/fruit scent, and I'm not sure if I entirely like it, but it's something interesting to note.
CoverGirl Continuous Color Lipstick in 565 (Rose Cashmere): This color seems almost like a Barbie-pink to me - and it's rather shimmery on the lips, which I usually don't like, but I don't mind it so much here. I swatched it next to the e.l.f. Essentials Lipstick in 618 (Seductive), and while they look similar on my lips, the e.l.f. one is much peachier than the CoverGirl one. I also love the packaging on this, it's really cute.
Revlon ColorBurst Lipstick in 001 (Lilac): This is a really pretty purpley-pink color, without being completely intimidating. It's really gorgeous and the packaging is adorable! It's not something I'd usually wear, but I was in the mood to try something new.
CoverGirl Outlast Smoothwear Lip Liner in 100 (Blush): I like that this is retractable instead of needing to be sharpened, and the color is very close to my actual lip color. It's a really pretty natural-looking shade, so I'm sure it would look good on a lot of different people.

CoverGirl Wetslicks Amazemint Lipgloss in 610 (Tickled Pink), 660 (Happy Hour), and 615 (Plum Crazy): I bought this gloss in Tickled Pink the first time I stopped in at CVS, and loved it so much that I had to go back for more. The blue color shows up as almost clear, and is supposed to make your teeth look whiter, so I figured it would be something cool to try out. Plus, who wouldn't love to whip out a blue lipgloss and freak everyone out? These glosses are extremely minty which I love, but if you don't like minty glosses I would stay away from them. And something about the chunky blue top just feels awesome in my hands. I dunno, I just love them!
Loreal HiP Shine Struck Liquid Lipcolor in 662 (Arresting): This is a really cool color - it's a pinky magenta with a hint of purple shimmer. It was the only Loreal HiP lipgloss that my CVS still had in stock, but it's definitely one that I would have reached for anyway, because I love bright colors and I love really unique colors - so this is the perfect combination!
Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss in 200 (Lilac Pastelle) and 160 (Firecracker): I love the packaging of these too - very simple, but very chic and classy. Both these colors are gorgeous, although I'm not convinced that they would look good on everyone - and Lilac Pastelle definitely looks better layered over a lipstick (like the Revlon lipstick in Lilac). Lilac Pastelle is pretty opaque but still glossy, so it looks better layered over something light than on my lips alone. Firecracker is a lot sheerer and more orangey than the tube would lead you to believe, but something about it still appeals to me. It seems like it would work well for those days where you want a quick splash of color, but can't be bothered with layers of lipstick, liner, and gloss.

So I'm off to rinse my green, peely face off. I may try and run out to the other CVS near me to see if they have anything different in stock, but if not, that's all for my super-cheap drug store beauty hauls ... for now.

XOXO, Ally