ELF Mineral Infused Face Primer Review

If you've been following this blog from the very beginning you will know that I absolutely love Elf. It (next to Nyx) is my favorite drugstore brand.

If you don't know about Elf (eyes lips face), they are this great brand that has just about any type of product you can think of at low prices. Most of their products are in a $1-$3 range. They have three different lines: the essential, the studio and the mineral. Yes...mineral. They have mineral eye shadows at just $3! Most of their products are great quality and many are comparable to higher end products.

When I went to  cosmetology school I learned about so many different products that I didn't have and I wanted everything! I didn't have a lot of money to build up my personal kit but luckily I found Elf! Any time I have introduced a client to a new product (such as primer) or even to makeup in general I refer them to start with elf. It is a great brand to start with and if they don't use the product much or at all they didn't blow a lot of money.

Now, onto the review. Elf Mineral Infused  Face Primer is the only face primer that Elf makes. It comes in 4 varieties: clear, tone adjusting green, brightening lavender and radiant glow. This review will be on the clear one.

(Please ignore the scratches on the cap, these pictures are from the opened bottle that I keep in my train case, not a brand new one)

This primer comes in a convenient pump bottle. I like it, but it can be difficult to tell how much product you have which sucks when you're running low. The pump does screw off though which does make it easier. The plastic cap could use some improvement, it doesn't always stay on.  When I used to store my every day makeup in a makeup bag the cap would always fall off. Sometimes it still continues to in my train case.

The actual product is clear as described and not very thick. It is a silicone based primer. Some people will apply it with their hands, I like to apply it with a cosmetic wedge. It is more sanitary, you have more control and less mess.

This primer does go on smoothly and for the most part it feels great but it is a bit on the greasy side. For me this issue goes away once I apply my foundation. It does definitely make application smoother, it makes my foundation last longer and it makes my foundation look better.

This is the sole face primer that I use on myself. I have heard it is comparable to Smashbox's primer, I have a sample size of Smashbox's primer so I will definitely be comparing the two.

In all, I love this primer and I think for the price ($6) it is phenomenal. If you want a good face primer without splurging, this is your product.

 Your best chance of getting this product would be to buy it from Elf's website (eyeslipsface.com) but you can also find it at Target stores.

Weekly Beauty Tip #37: Clear and nude lip liner

Instead of buying a different colored lip liner for every lipstick you own, invest in a nude or even better a clear lip liner. It will save you money as well as storage space.

Weekly Beauty Tip #36: Important nail tip

This is a very simple yet important tip for when doing your nails. Always use a base coat and a top coat. The base coat acts like a primer to your nails and the top coat acts like a setting spray to your nails. Both are important to achieve a beautiful and long lasting manicure.

Not Your Mother's® Beach Babe™ Texturizing Sea Salt Spray

Disclaimer: The travel size of the product was given to me complimentary from Influenster. The full sized bottle was purchased with my own money.

 I know I have reviewed this before, this is an updated review. I have a few things about this product that I couldn't mention in my original review and I also would like to compare the full size to the trial size I received in my VoxBox.

If you don't know about Not Your Mother's hair products then you are missing out! They have a wide range of great products at very low prices.

My favorite product of theirs is the Beach Babe Texturizing Sea Salt Spray. I had owned the full sized product before (more about this later), so I was very excited when I opened my VoxBox to see a travel size of Beach Babe.

On the bottle, Not Your Mother's claims:

Now everyday can be a day at the beach...minus the sunburn. Beach Babe has everyone fooled into thinking you just left the beach (you little liar!). It adds sexy, tousled waves and a lite matte finish to any hair type. Infused with natural Dead Sea salt & sea kelp this salon formula has you and your hair on the boardwalk all year long.

Beach Babe is easy to use, just spray it liberally all over your hair and scrunch it up. That's it! When I go out I like to spray Beach Babe and then scrunch my hair as tightly as I can into a claw clip (a nice big octopus claw clip works best), then do my makeup as the spray dries. It's perfect for when you want to add some style and volume but you don't have the time. You can also use this on wet or dry hair, personally I have found it works better with dry hair.

It also smells amazing! It has a coconut-ty tropical scent that makes you want to see it just for the scent.

This product does indeed work, but my hair does not hold a curl or a wave well so it sadly doesn't last long in my hair. This is just me, however and if your hair can hold a wave or curl well this should work much better on you.

I mentioned before that I used to own the full sized bottle of this spray. One day while my mom was getting something from the cabinet where I store my hair styling products it fell and the bottle broke! Right at the very bottom of the bottle and product went everywhere. If you buy this spray keep in mind that it is in a plastic bottle and if it falls, it will break.






 Here is the fullsized bottle so you can see how they differ:

                                                   


The design of the full sized bottle is a little more complex (but not difficult to use). There is a tab you have to move to open and close it. The tab could be moved easily in a bag, so I am very thankful for the travel size. The travel size has a normal pump and a cap. The cap doesn't fall off easily so there won't be product all over your bag. Although I do love the pump on the full sized bottle more, the  pump on the travel sized bottle is more practical.

 
I overall love this product and I will of course re-buy the full sized bottle and when I use up the travel size I will replace that as well. There is also a cream version of Beach Babe available now and I would love to try that to see how it compares.

For more about Not Your Mother's products visit: http://bit.ly/X9D4gH . For more on Beach Babe Visit: http://bit.ly/14G5TDQ .

Skinnygirl Daily On-The-Go Bars Review

 Disclaimer: Everything in this post was given to me complimentary from Influenster.

Skinnygirl On-the-Go Bars are essentially granola bars that are natural, kosher, high in fiber and best of all only 180 calories per bar. The one that I received in my VoxBox and that I am reviewing is the Coco-nut with peanut butter.

When I first saw this in my VoxBox, I was not excited. I actually dreaded trying this. I thought it would be some gross health food and I am not the health food type. After putting it off, one day while typing up a review and taking pictures for the review I decided to dig in.

I was pleasantly surprised, the bar was delicious! It tasted mostly of coconut (which I love) with a hint of peanut butter. It was a great and quick snack to have while working on a blog post. This is something I could see making a great breakfast on the go. It was surprisingly filling as well.

If I ever saw these bars in a store, I would definitely buy them over my normal Quaker granola bars. They are that good.

For more about Skinnygirl visit:  http://bit.ly/Z82f6r . For more on Skinnygirl products visit: http://bit.ly/W2l6g1

Olay Fresh Effects VaVa Vivid Cleansing System Review

 Disclaimer: Everything in this post was given to my complimentary from Influenster.

I was so excited when I opened my Influenster VoxBox and saw this. Not only was it a cleanser from Olay, a brand my mom and I have trusted for years but it also came with a brush. I do love my Sephora face cleansing brush but I've always wanted to try an electric brush.

Shine, Shine Go Away! is a powdered cleanser meant to minimize shine. This type of cleanser is ideal for anyone with oily skin and problems with shiny skin. The brush is meant to give a deep clean and fit into facial contours.

I found the cleanser to be drying, which I expected from a powdered cleanser. To me it isn't a huge deal because I can always put on some moisturizer. My skin has been terrible these past few months. After using this cleanser for just about every day for a week, I saw an improvement in the overall look and feel of my skin. It does cleanse well. It also smells great and lathers well.

I was most excited to try the brush this cleansing system came with, but I was disappointed with it. The brush doesn't have normal bristles, but semi chunky rubber bristles. I am not impressed with that. I expected the brush head to move or at least do something more when turner on, all it did was lightly vibrate.  By far the biggest disappointment of the brush: its size. This brush is really small! It is nice for fitting into the contours of your face and reaching those harder to clean places but it is too small. I would've liked it a lot more if the brush was larger.

My only other complaint is for some reason after using this cleanser, the brush has a not so pleasant smell. I'm not sure why.

Olay claims that this system will give a 400% better clean. It does clean very well but I wouldn't go as far to say that my skin was that much cleaner. I feel that my Sephora brush gives a much better clean.

Over all, I did like this product even though I have many complaints about the brush. I would totally buy this cleanser again, but I wouldn't buy the brush. I will be sticking to my Sephora brush.

You can purchase this cleansing system from www.olayfresheffects.com and www.amazon.com . If you just want to learn more about the Olay Fresh Effects system just visit http://www.olayfresheffects.com/ .

Secret Clinical Strength Stress Response Review

 Disclaimer: Everything in this post was given to me complimentary by Influenster.

I didn't know what to think when a deodorant was included in my SweetHeart VoxBox. I have always been a Dove girl and I had never even thought of trying any other deodorant.

Secret claims that their  Clinical Strength Stress Response deodorant contains a triple action technology that provides prescription strength against wetness, odor fighting capsules to absorb odor and skin smoothing conditioners. It also boasts that it is a sponsor of Oprah's Lifeclass.

I was pretty excited to try this deodorant. Anyone that knows me personally probably knows by now that I stress a lot and I stress over a lot of things. So this  would be the perfect deodorant for me. Now does it actually work?

I tried this deodorant in a few different ways. First I put it on as I normally would at the beginning of the day. At the end of that day there was absolutely zero wetness.

The next way I tried it was as directed at bedtime. Any time I used this before bed, my underarms were completely dry when that normally isn't the case (I know, too much information. Sorry!).

Lastly, I tried this deodorant the day I got my wisdom teeth removed, which was an extremely stressful day for me. This deodorant did live up to its name. It protected me from normal and stress sweat, keeping my underarms completely dry.





Overall, this is a great deodorant. It has worked well every time and every way that I have tried it. I got the Serene Citrus scent, which smelled great and lasted all day.

 At first I didn't like how this was more of a wet/cream deodorant instead of a solid one, but I am used to it now and I don't mind it. I would totally buy this again.

To find out more about Secret deodorant, visit: http://bit.ly/XSlF9h .

Bath and Body Works After Holiday Haul

This is a very long overdue post, and the last in my series of after holiday haul posts. I hadn't discovered Bath and Body works until I was on a shopping trip to the mall with Vicky right before Thanksgiving. I had always walked past the store never stopping in. I'm so very glad that she introduced me to the wonderfulness of this store. Everything in this post is from an online order and a visit to the store.

Pretty much everything here I had gotten on sale. At the time every holiday item was on clearance, they had a hair care sale on their website and $4 lotions and shower gels.

Winter Candy Apple Shower Gel. I love sweet and fruity scents, but I was unsure at first about this shower gel based on some reviews on the website. I went ahead with it anyway, hoping I would like this. I didn't just like this, I love this scent! I will be using this year round, it smells so good! This has become one of my favorite scents. It is as described, a candied apple scent. I also have the matching lotion that I bought on amazon.com. This is the very first Bath and Body works shower gel I have ever used and it certainly won't be the last.

Vanilla Bean Noel Body Lotion. I bought this online looking for a good lotion, but unsure of the scents available. I love anything vanilla scented, so I figured this would be a safe bet. I was so right, this is a heavenly smelling lotion. It's very hard for me to describe the scent myself, to me it smells like a mixture of vanilla and sugar cookies. I also get a kind of salty - sweet smell from it. Bath and Body works' website describes this scent as having fragrance notes of  caramel, burnt sugar and vanilla.

Strawberry Sparkler Body lotion. This is a very sweet strawberry scented lotion. I love it, but a lot of people may not due to how sweet smelling it is. Strawberry next to apple are my favorite fruity scents so this is a perfect lotion for me.

Black Raspberry and Vanilla Moisturizing Conditioner. There was a really good hair care sale going on and I needed a good moisturizing conditioner, so I thought I would give this a try. I wish my local Bath and Body Works carried the hair care products so that I could buy this again (without the annoying shipping cost). Not only does it smell amazing, but this is as promised a very moisturizing conditioner. What I love most is how this is color safe! Although I haven't dyed my hair in a long time, I have been trying to preserve the bit of color that I have left and this certainly does the job.

Cinnamon Frosting candle. Vicky bought a mini candle of this for me during my very first visit to the store and I loved it so much, I had to buy another one. It is as described a cinnamon frosting candle. It is a good quality candle which fills the room with scent.

I got a bunch of PocketBacs. While I was in high school, I would always see kids with these on their purses and backpacks. This was the very first thing I insisted I get from Bath and Body Works. These are great little things, they sanitize your hands well without drying them out and they smell amazing. There are so many scents to choose from and they are rotated often depending on the season. The only problem I have with these are how addicting they are! Since taking the pictures for this post, I probably have at least 20 of these!

I also got this PocketBac holder, which I keep clipped onto my purse. It was a steal at only $0.25!

Weekly Beauty Tip #35: Storing false eyelashes

There are many different ways to store false eyelashes, the most important thing to remember when storing them is to keep them in shape and to keep them clean. Here are some suggestions for storing false eyelashes:

- In their original packaging.
- In special cases made to store eyelashes.
- In pill cases.
- In an Altoids tin.
- In a small tacklebox with dividers.

Nails by Vicky: Saint Patrick's Day Tutorial

Can you believe that St. Patty’s Day is just around the corner! For this tutorial I will be showing how to do a simple rainbow and Leprechaun buckle.

What you will need:

• Base coat and top coat (as always)
• Nail polish in: red, orange, yellow, green, and either blue or purple (Try to use nice bright nail polishes.)
• Gold and black nail art paint
• Thin brush

1. First, use acetone to take off the beautiful nail polish that you applied the last time you did your nails. Then apply one coat of whatever base coat you use.

2. Each nail will have a different color of the rainbow so make sure you do not accidentally paint all of your nails the same color. (I have done this before and it can be a bit annoying to take it off.) To make it easier to remember which color goes on which nail here is a little cheat sheet:

       a. Thumb - red

(Avon Speed Dry Reddy to Go $6)

      b. Pointer - orange

(Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics in Beta from Sephora $10)

      c. Middle - Yellow

(Avon Nailwear Pro in Sunshine $6)

     d. Ring - Green

(ELF Teal Blue $2)

    e. Pinky - Blue or purple (I had to use purple because I do not have blue nail polish. This will change soon.)

(ELF Purple Dream $2)

     (Each of the nail polishes shown are the polishes I used for this tutorial.)

      

     You may have to apply from one coat up to three coats of polish depending on the color you use.

     Once you have finished applying all the different colors allow them to dry COMPLETELY. This is most important for the green nails because this is where the nail art is to be applied. Below is what mine looked like:

3. Now onto the nail art! For this part you will need the gold and black nail art polish and the small brush.

       a. Depending on your nail size, using the black paint a good size line across the width of your nail and allow to dry.

        

       I am using a Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen in black to accomplish this. These can be found in drugstores for $8.00.

        b. Next, using the gold, paint a box that goes through the line and onto the green. This is hard to explain so please refer to the picture below or follow this link to a picture tutorial of how to make one: http://pinterest.com/pin/304415256032658159/

          I am using a Nail Candy duo, specifically the gold side. This can be found on amazon.com for $8.00.

        c. For this part you may find it easier to use a small brush to do the design instead of the brush given. The one I used to paint the gold on was from Sephora and it came in a set with a dotting tool for $10. However you can find a set of three different size brushes for $1.60 on amazon.com. 

4. Finally, apply the top coat. Once finished the outcome should look something like this:

Zoya Nail Polish Review

It amazes me how many people don't know about Zoya! Zoya is a nail polish brand free of five harmful chemicals ( toluene, formaldehyde, formaldehyde Resin, DBP, and camphor) that can be found in nail polish. Zoya nail polish is also long wearing and has so many different colors.

I had been eyeing Zoya's nail polishes for months on their website (www.zoya.com). One day on their twitter ( www.twitter.com/zoyanailpolish ) they had a contest to caption a picture. I was one of the winners of that contest! I was so excited when I won, not only did I win a really cool nail polish but it was Zoya, the brand I had been lusting over trying for months.

The day I got my package from Zoya I was in awe. I thought I was just getting one bottle of nail polish but to my surprise I got the Gilty Pleasures gift set. This set included the shades Raven, Purity and the Gilty top coat.

 

 

  I could do a review alone on the Gilty top coat. The gold of this topcoat is real 18K gold! It is so beautiful! Best of all it can be used with so many different shades of nail polish. I like it best over Zoya Raven. 

 Zoya Raven is a perfect black nail polish, I wear black nail polish a lot so this will definitely get a lot of use!

 Zoya Purity is the perfect white nail polish. It is so much better than the China Glaze White on White polish I had been using.

I also have Zoya Holly, a really pretty emerald green. This nail polish is perfect for this year, since Pantone's color of the year is emerald.

Zoya Holly with Zoya Gilty topcoat. I didn't realize until Vicky (she writes the Nails by Vicky posts on this blog) pointed it out that this would make a great St. Patrick's Day nail look.


The quality of these nail polishes is very consistently high. They are all very pigmented and they do last as long as they claim to. I was very impressed by Purity, I had never had a white nail polish that stayed so long.

The only con I have about Zoya nail polish is accessibility. It hasn't been as easy to get my hands on as OPI, Essie or China Glaze would be. The easiest place to find Zoya is through Zoya's website. You can find some colors on amazon and possibly eBay. Some beauty supply stores carry it as well. I am lucky enough to have a beauty supply store near me that has a regular supply of Zoya.

If you are a nail polish addict (like myself and Vicky) then you absolutely must have some Zoya! If you want to try Zoya, do it, these are great nail polishes!