Slim Down without the Sweat - on Cozycot!

My May article for Cozycot has been published! It's about how I use makeup to cheat turn my siopao face into something a little more angular. Check it out here!

Clicking this image will also lead to the article!

If you're looking for reviews to the products I used, they're right here:
e.l.f. Contouring Blush and Bronzing Powder
Revlon Colorburst lipstick: Raspberry

e.l.f. Contouring Blush and Bronzing Powder

When this came out locally last year, I thought, "Oh hey, it's that duo people keep talking about at the local AND international forums, the one they say is similar to the NARS Orgasm/Albatross duo!" I don't know how similar it is to that particular NARS product, but I do know that this is a pretty good blush/contour combo for round-faced people like me.

Price: P250.00
Location Bought: Watsons SM Megamall
Approximate Date Bought: mid 2010

e.l.f. All Over Color Stick: Golden Peach

If you ask me, they shouldn't be calling this an all over COLOR stick. It's more like an all over SHIMMER stick.

Price: P129.00
Location Bought: Watsons SM Megamall
Approximate Date Bought: mid 2010

e.l.f. Lipstick: Classy

ELF Classy is one of those medium pinks that I am rather obsessed with looking for. I already threw my EB Mauvey out, but this lipstick could be a possible relative of that shade.

Price: P129.00
Location Bought: Watsons Greenhills
Approximate Date Bought: late 2010

e.l.f. 2-Way Cake Foundation: Rosy Beige

I bought this mostly because of the good reviews on GT, and because I've always liked the decent quality that ELF products have for their super low price. It is slightly unsettling that this product isn't on their local or international website, but since I've been cycling this with my Etude powders for almost four months now without any freaky face mutations, no worries~!

Price: P250.00
Location Bought: Watsons SM Megamall
Approximate Date Bought: February 2010

e.l.f. Studio Line Blush in Candid Coral

So much for staying on schedule. This was supposed to be Friday's post but then the Lantern Parade happened, and then I had to do some last-minute Christmas shopping, so yeah...

Price: P250
Location Bought: Landmark Trinoma
Approximate Date Bought: last week

Packaging: very cheap feeling plastic that scratches easily (if you look closely you can see that mine already has scratches), pan tends to get covered in loose powder particles very easily (see pic after the next). The product fits neatly into my palm though, which I like.

Color: peachy-pink with gold shimmers that aren't noticeable in the pan. From what I can tell this looks quite like NARS Orgasm, but since I don't have that, I can't confirm. (Maybe after Christmas I'll be able to? Hahaha)

Pigmentation: barely any color at all on my hand (but the shimmer is definitely there), shows up more on my finger

Actual Usage: er, can you see it? In person this gives a really nice, soft glow... not that you can tell in the pictures. :(

Great for everyday neutral looks, but doesn't photograph well.

e.l.f. Brightening Eye Color in Butternut

Took me long enough to review this quad! :P

Butternut is one out of the two neutral quads that ELF offers (the other one being Nouveau Neutrals). This quad is composed of two rich browns and two creamy peaches.

The browns are very pigmented and very silky, although the peaches are a little on the powdery side.

And here's the look I did with them!

e.l.f. Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Caramel Candy

ELF's luscious liquid lipsticks aren't really lipsticks at all - they're more like glosses.

Caramel Candy is a frosted nude which has a slightly thicker consistency than the other LLLs I have (Baby Lips, Cherry Tart, Brownie Points).

It isn't noticeable up close,

but it gives your lips an amazing ethereal glow at a distance.

In my experience, LLLs stay on my lips until I eat or drink something. They're not drying, but I still prefer to layer them over lip balm because of their stickiness. This product isn't suited for windy days - unless you want a mouth full of hair, that is.

e.l.f. Elements eye shadow in Golden Glow

Hello there! Today we have one of ELF's single eye shadows, Golden Glow.

This beautiful golden shadow is quite pigmented for its price, P89.75. The hand swatch does not do it justice!

I didn't think it would show up so distinctly on my lids with my previous experience using golden-toned colors , but it did!

As I often do, this application was primed using elf's tone correcting concealer. Come to think of it, I rarely ever use that product for its intended purpose - concealing blemishes - anymore.

I decided to fool around with it by applying some of the darker pink from 4u2 palette No. 30 just above the upper lash line (I hope my eye terminology is correct! X_X), and I'm pretty happy with the result!

e.l.f. Brightening Eye Color in Luxe

I think this is a very Fall quad. (Aww, I wish the Philippines had four seasons!)

It also seems to be the most pigmented ELF quad so far:

I'm pretty iffy about the look I did with it, though.

I just copied it off of a tutorial by DulceCandy87 on youtube. I thought it would look okay in the end, but it turns out that it's not very "me".

Time for more experimenting!

e.l.f. Brightening Eye Color in Pretty n Pink

Not really a pink fan, but I do respect the color when used on nail polish, cell phones and makeup brushes.

I picked up this quad of pinks to add to my selection of daytime colors.

The skin swatch makes it seem kind of chalky, doesn't it?

Fortunately it looks alright when applied.

I like how it brightens my eyes, but I find it too girly for everyday wear. I'll probably wear this on days when I feel blatantly kikay. :P

e.l.f. Brightening Eye Color in Ivy

I find myself inexplicably drawn to green eyeshadow.

ELF Ivy is a quad consisting of a mint green, a moss green, a brownish olive green, and a chocolate brown. It's not very pigmented, even with primer:

I do think it's good for the daytime, though.

It was early morning (like 7AM) when I played with this quad, hence my puffy eyelids.

I just used ELF's tone correcting concealer on mine, so I think more color might be achieved from Ivy if you prime it with something in a similar color.

e.l.f. Brightening Eye Color in Blue Moon

Ondoy and Pepeng failed to sweep me away, but end-of-sem requirements did. But anyway, I'm baaack! I have quite a number of products backlogged already, I just haven't gotten around to posting them all!

This is the first of many posts about ELF's eyeshadow quads. I've recently gotten into eyeshadows and I super love these little things! They're uber cheap and come in beautiful safe-for-everyday colors - perfect for n00b experimenters like me!

Blue Moon is a predominantly blue quad with some neutrals thrown in. I got it because it seemed like an interesting combination.

The colors aren't too pigmented alone as you will see below, but they turn out alright if you use a primer of some sort underneath.

I did four looks with this quad. For the first one, I used the two blue colors primed with the lighter shade in ELF's cream shadow duo in Blueberry. For the second one, I used the two neutrals primed with the lighter shade in ELF's cream shadow duo in Mocha Swirl.

In retrospect, the second look ended up pretty lumpy. :|

For the third and fourth look, I used ELF's tone correcting concealer in tone 2 as the primer, and the lighter brown shade in the quad as the lid color. I used the darker brown and blue as crease colors.

Maybe I should have blended these more?

This quad was really fun to play with, but I think I should watch a few more Youtube tutorials to improve my blending and application skills. Heehee!

e.l.f. super glossy lip shine SPF 15 in Watermelon

This color is super wearable!

Its applicator is slightly less slanted and less pointier than most other glosses with this kind of packaging. I find that that makes it easier to apply.

The gloss has a very nice consistency - not too thick, not too runny. It's quite sticky, though, and the light grape scent might put some of you off, but to me, it's just fine.