E.L.F Haul -They had an offer I could not refuse!

Long post alert! Eyes Lips Face (otherwise known as E.L.F) is one of those brands everyone knows of, and most have in their makeup bag. I however, do not! Thanks to a cheeky 50% off and free delivery offer, I now have a lot! The brand is known for their budget products, starting only at £1.50, and a fair few are cult items (most of which were out of stock..). So the brand has a good reputation, sadly not as cheap as it would be in the states, but I did save a good £20! Nothing to sniff at there!

   

Lipstick in 'Seductive' & 'Classy'

£1.95 each

It annoys me how website pictures never quite capture the true colour of products and these aren't an exeption. Buying makeup online will always be risky though, but these colours are nothing like I thought they would be. 'Seductive' swatches a lot more lilac then it looks in the packaging, and 'Classy' is much more peach. I find that there's a bit of resistance when trying to wind up the product and a slight scent that I can't put my finger on. I'm a little disappointed here, but at 98p, it's not a huge loss if I don't suit them.

Jumbo Lip Gloss Stick in 'Summer Nights' & 'Pink Unbrellas'

£2.95 each

These are nice but a lot more sheer than I expected, I had to apply quite a bit of pressure for a decent swatch. I'm hoping these will soften a little bit with use. They remind me a little of the Revlon balm stains in the way they have a slight minty effect, but feel a lot thicker on the lips. 'Summer Nights' is similar to 'Demure' (Revlon Lacquer Balm), but more shimmery, which I personally don't like. I think because I'm such a fan of Revlon's answer to the chubby stick, I compare other immitations to them. But again, just under a £1.50 each Isn't much to pay for an experiment.

All Over Colour Stick in 'Persimmon'

£1.95 each

This is crazy shimmery! The colour I wanted was out of stock, so I ordered this one to see what the crack was about! It claims to be suitable for eyes, lips and as a blush or highlight. At this time I'm really unsure as to how I would use this, I think I will just have to have a play and see what happens.

Liquid Eyeliner in 'Black'

£1.95 each

I'm currently using a dead expensive liquid liner which I don't plan to repurchase, so I've started my hunt for a replacement. It would be nice if this performs well, as it's a lot cheaper! I'm looking for a good pigment, lasting power and easy application, as well as other things such as drying time and transferring. Only a little pressure! 

Eyelid Primer in 'Sheer'

£1.95 each

This has such rave reviews from many American bloggers, and I think it's only a dollar out there too. I can't wait to try this out! I don't tend to have many problems with eye shadows slipping or anything, but it would be interesting to see how things could improve by using this, as everything I've been told is good. I think I have the highest expectations with this product out of all of them, so 

Custom Compact + Custom Eyes in 'Wisteria' 'Truly Pink' 'Mocha' & 'Driftwood' 

£1.50 each, combined total of £7.50

I love how crazy cheap this is! With discount it was just £3.75, for 4 shadows of your own choice in a magnetic compact. Which I think is really awesome, as once you've used up the powder you can swap it out for another, as well as having them all in one compact place. I'm not sure if I would have purchased this at full price, but totally irresistible at less than a pound a shadow. With a nice colour payoff these are a total steal and I can't make any complaints at this point. I wish there were more shades in the range though.

Blending Eye Brush, Eye Crease Brush, Eye Shadow Brush, Defining Eye Brush and Brushing Bronzing & Blending Brush.

£1.95 each

I don't own many brushes so this was the perfect time to try a few out without breaking the bank. I picked up these 5 as I don't own many shadow brushes, and it really is time to walk away from the cheap applicators. I'm slightly worried as there is some movement, as if there isn't enough bristles in the fennel. But I'm open to these and looking forward to seeing if they work for me.

Natural Lash Kit and Individual Lash Kit both in 'Black'

£1.95 each

I caved and brought some lashes too! Surprising after my last post hey, but I've wanted to try individual lashes, but couldn't justify spending a fiver on something I might fall out with. But with discount these were just under a pound each. I don't really think I could go wrong! I must giggle at the natural lash kit, as these don't look natural in the slightest! But they are fabulous, and I love them. There, justified! 

Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder in 'St Lucia'

£3.95 each

I've thought about contouring for sometime now, but no where near brave enough to dive into cream products. So this looked perfect, a blush and bronzing powder today in the lightest availble shades! Now all I have to do is learn how. The bronzer is very pigmented, which makes me a little nervous! But this will be a fun learning curve. 

Mineral Lip Liner in 'Peachy' and Mineral Eye Liner in 'Midnight'

£3.50 each

And I didn't even order these! What I can only assume was a free gift, are these two mineral liners (I nearly purchased two of the cheaper lip liners, kind of glad I didn't). Both are twist up, and made from an 100% mineral formula, with no chemical additives, chemical dyes or parabens. Looking forward to trying these out, and you can't complain about a freebie! 

Overall I'm happy with my little haul, I managed to buy 20 items for a little over £20 which is pretty incredible. Most of my products are from the cheaper end of the range, so I'm not expecting miracle products, however it would be nice to find a few gems in what I've purchased. I was a bit gutted that most of the cult products were out of stock, and I will purchase these at somepoint, but I think it may be worth visiting one of the few E.L.F stores. However I wanted to try a broad range of products, and that's why I didn't just buy those cult items.

I plan to road test these out over the next few weeks and do some future posts, maybe one with all the products I liked and one with all the ones I didn't. Hopefully this will be of interest to you guys!

Hannah x

Falsies: are we risking our health? The false eyelash dilemma.

I love a great pair of lashes, and 2013 saw false lash sales rocket due to the trend. Obviously false lashes are nothing new, historically made popular by Twiggy in the sixties, but there has been boost in recent years due to celebrities rocking out pairs on their appearances. My sister, who is almost mid way through college, has recently starting wearing them on the daily, buying cheap pairs in bulk from china on eBay with larger bottles of glue, which has got me wondering. How safe are they?

I don't often wear lashes, mainly just for nights out or special occasions, and on the odd night at work. I love how they open up eyes and add that finishing touch to your makeup. But they aren't something I would wear everyday. After all they've invented plenty of mascaras that can do decent job of making your natural lashes long and voluptuous, and also I'm worried about damage to them. 

Your eyelashes are designed to protect the eyes from harmful particles and act like feelers to alert the brain to close the eyelid if an object is coming towards the eye. Pretty cool! There's around 70 - 150 lashes on your top lid alone, and the curve of them and the lid helps harmful particles and sweat slip away from the eye. So they are pretty important to the well being of your eyes. I know from experience how eye infections feel and as a contact lens wearer, eye hygiene is dead important! So how can false lashes effet our eye health?

Most false lashes (if you haven't come across them yet!) are thin synthetic strands fixed along a strip, which is then glued to the eyelid, just above the lash line. The glue used is usually liquid latex (water, latex and ammonia) more often used for special effects makeup. It dries with a rubbery consistency, which makes it great for easy removal. What's not too great about it is that if you use to much glue on your lashes, or don't allow to dry to a tacky state it can seep into your lash line and cause irritation as well as bonding your natural lashes to your false ones. Meaning that when removing the falsies, you own lashes may be pulled out too. Everyone's lashes are different, but pulling them out can stop them renewing, ending up with sparse lids. 

Worse than loosing lashes is the risk of infection or allergies which in severe cases can lead to blindness. I've had conjunctivitis and a surface infection before (due to dirt trapped under a contact lens) and I know how horrible they are, as well as annoying to treat. Luckily mine were nothing serious, neither cause by lashes however. False lashes aren't designed like the bodies natural ones and therefore don't protect the eye as well against foreign bodies. This is what can cause infections, by effecting the eyes surface or blocking tear ducts. Believe me, something you don't want to experience! By wearing falsies frequently you are opening up your eyes to infection for long periods of time, increasing the risk of pulling out your own lashes, and more likely to irritate sensitive skin by reapplying glues everyday. 

So, you may be really put off wearing them ever again now, I apologise! But there are ways to ensure safe lash use! 

Do: Use minimal glue, and allow to dry to a tacky state before application. Use good quailty glues, and check ingredients of new brands, just in case your allergic. Cut lashes to fit, one doesn't fit all, so they will need trimming to insure a proper fit. Try self-adhesive lashes such as Eylure's Ready to Wear pre-glued range (£5.25 from Superdrug). 

Don't: Sleep in falsies. Place the strip ontop of your natural lashes, place them just above. Avoid doubling up, this will increase risks. Don't wear everyday, try to minimise the time wearing them. Use mascara after applying, this can also pull out natural lashes on removal.

Don't be scared to wear falsies, as long as they are applied correctly and worn for a suitable amount of time you'll be fine, after all they are fabulous!

Foxy x

*This post is not sponsored! written out of interest*

It's Haul O'clock! Whoops!

Ok, so I may have picked up a few things, and yes, I know it hasn't been that long since my last haul, but I'm an addict. There I've said it. I knew I needed a few things but ended up picking up some other stuff. And I'm now I'm filing for a self restraining order against town centre. Bit I thought you might be interested in what I've been looking at recently!

Vaseline Spray & Go body moisturiser in Aloe Fresh

£4.99 from Superdrug

I've been pole dancing for fitness for the last 3 and a half years, and been ignorant to body care on the grounds that mositurising can effect my grip on the pole. Now I'm this far down the line I've realised that my skin is drying out somewhat and this is effecting my grip too. Damned if I do, damned if I don't!  So I wanted a product that was quick and easy (as I have no attention span and quite lazy) as well as quickly absorbed so I wouldn't be left with slippery skin. This product seems to fit the bill, I've only used it for two days so far, but I will write up a full review. 

Real Techniques Expert Face Brush

£9.99 from Boots

I do have a collection of brushes, but not of great quality. I've wanted to join the Real Techniques party for sometime, so I've started off slowly with their foundation brush, as I'm getting fed up with getting product all over my fingers. Also it would be great to have a better finish!

Soap & Glory No Clogs Allowed Super self-heating deep pore Detox Mask

£11.50 from Boots

Currently I'm trying to battle teenage black heads from where I used to ignore my skin, which I regret so much now! But apparently washing my face wasn't on my lost of priorities, so now I've got to fix it. With this I hope to get a deep cleanse by using it once a week, I'll probably review this too. I picked this up on reccomendation from Estée (Essiebutton) on YouTube, so I hope it will do the trick!

Revlon Colorburst lip Lacquer

£7.99 from Boots (available from Superdrug from February 18th)

I already have a few of these if you can remember from my last haul, but the store didn't have a full selection. I'm not overly impressed but the colour range, there's quite a lot of bright colours across the matte and lacquer range which really don't suit me, or I think are unwearable, which is a shame cause I really love the product. I only have 1 matte, again as the colours don't suit me. But I picked up Provocateur, Coquette and whimsical. I'm hoping they will grow on me! 

NYX Powder Blush

£6 from Next

After hearing that NYX are now being stocked in next I had to check it out but picking up a few bits. The selection my nearest store had was rather limited, but I'm hoping the massive store being built near me will have more once it's opened. I've seen the powder blush being used a lot by other bloggers so I thought it would be a good one to grab. This shade is called Peach (?!).

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil

£5 from Next

These looked interesting and they only had palette eyeshadows, not singles. I thought these would be great as eye baces, so I picked up Milk and Yoghurt (only just realised that!) I'm wearing yoghurt today under my neutral shadows.

NYX Mega shine Lip Gloss

£6 from Next

I love this already and I'm not a huge gloss girl, it smells lovely and the texture is very smooth, with a nice colour pay off as you can see from the swatch. I almost picked up another, but restrained! I think I'll enjoy this.

NYX Matte Lipstick

£6 from Next

This is the colour Tea Rose, I thought it was pretty. There's not much else to say! But seeming Revlon only did one matte balm that I liked, I was drawn in by these. Whoops!

So that's all for his haul! Have you got any of these items?

Foxy x

Glossybox: Febuary - The Valentines Box

   

There has been much anticipation this month for the the valentines edition of glossy box, mostly due to the unhappy uproar from subscribers over last months 'leftovers' boxes. Glossybox reached out after receiving many messages and responded by saying the following months box will be makeup themed. Brill. I love makeup. I'm not even ashamed to say that I'm slightly addicted. GB have also sent out a survey to subscribers, asking us what we expect from boxes. So hopefully they will take all feedback into account. Let's start with what I liked most!

Maybelline Big Eyes Mascara Waterproof

£8.99. Full size product.

I'm a little excited about this, I've seen many adverts lately for this latest release from Maybelline. I really don't have the want or need for a new mascara, especially after the Miss Manga disappointment. So I wasn't heading out to buy this anytime soon. But! This boasts two wands, one for top lashes and one smaller wand for the bottom. Sparks up the debate on weather you should even apply mascara to bottom lashes! (I do...). It's for big eyes, in a waterproof formula, I'm hoping this will wow me! Some other subscribers received the Master Khol Kajal eye liner, but I do wonder, as it was only december's box that featured a Maybelline product, are we scraping the bottom of the barrel? But anyway, this I am pleased with.

Ciaté London Paint Pot in 'Plastic Fantastic'

£9 for 13.5ml. Full size product

Another appearance from Ciaté in the space of a year, I received a true red polish from them in July's box last year. I'm not a huge nail varnish fan, my nails don't grow very well, and I only rarely have acrylic nails done, so polishes are very rarely used. This photo doesn't do the colour any justice, its like a dark raspberry pink, but is think this is quite wearable. I've put this in my like pile due to being a decent brand, and it's a little luxury I wouldn't buy for myself.

NV Chunky Eye Crayon in 'Sugarplum'

£5 for 4g. Full sized product.

NV are a fairly new indepent brand, who not long ago followed me on twitter! If it wasn't for that I wouldn't know of them, but because of that I've become curious. I'm quite glad this has appeared in my box, and as pointed out by GB, it's NV's first appearance. I haven't yet tried anything else from their range, but luckily there was a discount code included. This is a chunky crayon designed for eyes but safe to use on lips and cheeks. Mine is a pretty pink with hues of purple and light shimmer. From the swatch I did I can tell it's really soft and creamy. It claims to not crease, but we will see about that!

Lindt Lindor Treat Bar

£0.79 for 38g (also available as a multi pack). Full size bar.

An extra treat from GB this month, a Lindor chocolate bar from Lindt. And yes I've already eaten it. It wasn't going to last long as it's my favourite. It's nice to have a little extra, obviously fitting with the valentines theme. The last two items didn't really tickle my fancy.

Nougat London Sparkling Body Shimmer

£14 for 250ml. Sample of 100ml worth £5.60

This is quite frankly awful. I don't think I've worn body shimmer since I was 12, and even then I don't think I liked it. However this is a decent sized sample, and I suppose I'll find some use for it. It smells nice enough, weather it's luxury is yet to be decided, the packaging doesn't scream it. Such a strange product to include, and according to the magazine all subscribers received this product. Ugh!

Giovanni Eco Chic cosmetics Chic ultra-moist Shampoo, Conditioner and Hair mask.

£7.99 for 251ml of shampoo and conditioner. Samples of 7.4ml x2 and 10.35ml. Aproximate value of £0.80

I can't stand sachets, and this has three of them. A shampoo, conditioner and hair mask designed to moisture infuse dry and damaged hair. Hmm. I would have preferred little bottles as it makes the product easier to use. But I only use one hair brand and that's Aussie, which is about half the price of this, which does the same thing. I will use this, as I very much doubt anyone will want to swap with me! And a value of 80p in total is a bit of a joke.

Total box value: £30.18

Overall I liked 3 out of 5 products, which is pretty good going I think. You can't always get 100%! It's a great improvement from last month, however I thought the theme could have been a little more prominant, some reds and rose scents perhaps. Only 2 items were makeup, which is a little disappointing, I was expecting a lip product, which I know some people got from Maybelline. But overall I'm happy. Here's to hoping next months box is awesome!

Foxy x