ONE BRAND/FULL FACE FIRST IMPRESSIONS | BENFIT COSMETICS

I wanted to do a one brand based full face first impressions post - bit of a mouthful eh?
I bought some Benefit Cosmetics goodies from feelunique.co.uk - I love this site, they often have discounts/offers on high end brands and they have free shipping over £10!

I bought 2 of their gift sets and the popular eyeshadow kit World Famous Neutrals, so I figured why not try it all out and give you guys a little tutorial + review on their products
What I like about benefit is these little sets let you try a whole bunch of products so that you don't have to throw yourself in the deep end and splurge on something you're not sure you'll like!
 
Firstly, can we just appreciate the packaging as we scroll through these images! They're like cute little books and you can always take out the make up and tray to use them for storing things in or once you're done stack them as a cute little decoration to your bedroom

 

The Bronze of Champions - Comes with Watts Up! Highlighter, Crease-less Cream Shadow in Bikini Tini, eyeshadow in Thanks A Latte, Hoola Bronzer, They're Real mascara and Hoola Lipgloss - which smells divine might I add.

 How To Look The Best At Everything in Light - Comes with The Porefessional Primer, Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow foundation in "I'm Pure 4 Sure" Ivory, Boi-ing Concealer in 01 and 02, and Hello Flawless! Powder in "I love me" Ivory.

World Famous Neutrals - Easiest Nudes Ever comes with Creaseless Cream Shadow in R.S.V.P and No Pressure! along wish eyeshadows; Call My Bluff, Thanks A Latte, Pinky Swear and Quick, Look Busy.

To create this eye look I used Bikini Tini creaseless cream shadows all over the lid. Then RSVP on the outer third, then No Pressure! along the bottom lid using a pencil brush. Using these cream shadows as a base creates longevity for the shadows.
     These cream shadows are the perfect balance of shimmery but not sparkly or glittery, they look great on their own for a natural look as it doesn't leave your eyes looking flat but makes them look much more awake

I then packed the shadow Pinky Swear onto the entire lid, Thanks A Latte on my outer third and along the bottom lid in the same area as the cream shadow using a pencil brush again for precision. I then used Quick, Look Busy in my crease and along the edge of the bottom lid where I applied Thanks A Latte to add dimension and precision. I used Call My Bluff as an inner corner highlight and on the brow bone. For this look I used Real Techniques and ELF brushes.
     The eyeshadows have great pigmentation for neutral shades, blend easily and do not go patchy nor are they chalky.

I then used my liquid pen eyeliner by Soap & Glory to create a wing and add the dot adjacent to my tear duct. I then went over the dot and traced along bottom lid up alongside my winged liner with Collection's glitter liner in Funk, then applied Benefit's They're Real! Mascara - I actually have an amazing and cheaper dupe for this mascara which I will post up soon!

For the lips I used ELF's retractable lip liner in Natural, with Essence's matte effect XXXL Longlasting Lipgloss in Soft Nude and applied Hoola Lipgloss ontop for a glossy finish - you guys I cannot get over how good it smells! And it has fine sparkles so it does not feel gritty nor does it look like you're about to work a shift at your local strip club.

For the face (I look a bit moody, oh dear) I used all products in the 'How To Look The Best At Everything' in Light and The Bronze of Champions - in my opinion it's a very natural finish - it does state this on the products however  I just think for this eye look I need something of higher coverage. I love the bronzed glow it gave the bronzer paired with Watts Up! is a match made in Heaven. The concealer provided me with great coverage and although the shade 02 was too dark it makes a great cream concealer!

I hope you enjoyed this one brand tutorial/full face first impressions (almost anyway)/mini haul? Bit of a mix here so this is probably just one big mess haha have a great weekend!

Hayley x


FULL LIST OF PRODUCTS:

- How To Look The Best At Everything in Light by Benefit Cosmetics
- The Bronze Of Champions by Benefit Cosmetics
- World Famous Neutrals in Easiest Nudes Ever by Benefit Cosmetics
- Glitter Liner in Funk by Collection
- Supercat Liquid Eyeliner Pen by Soap & Glory
- ELF Studio Eyebrow Kit in Ash
- ELF Treat & Tame in Ash
- Rimmel London Eyeliner Pencil in Jet Black
- ELF Retractable Lip Liner in Natural
- Essence XXXL Longlasting Lipgloss in Soft Nude

HAUL | HUGE ELF COSMETICS HAUL! | EYESLIPSFACE.COM

Happy hump day everyone! I have a massive ELF cosmetics haul for ye retinas this afternoon, I purchased these items on two different occassions so just to clarify I did not pick this up all at once lol (but it would be so easy to do so on that damn site!)
ELF had two different offers, one was a mystery collection of make up worth £20 with your order, the other was 50% off the entire order. ELF always have good deals going on so be sure to check, although they seem to have way bigger and better offers in the USA which is bloody annoying, AND I've seen a bunch of ELF products launched over there that I really want to try so hopefully they'll launch it over here soon! Has anyone seen the blush palettes? They look amazing but aren't available in the UK *dolphin tears*
anyway lets, crack on with it shall we...?

The lighter shade looks like a really pretty base for a pink, light, spring/summer look

I've heard that this bronzer/blush duo is a dupe for the famous Nars Orgasm blush and Nars Laguna bronzer. I personally can't give my opinion as I've never tried either of those products (cue violins) but I really love this. I was pleasantly surprised when the packaging was bigger than I expected! Usually with ELF it turns out smaller than you think, but this product is thin so it won't take up much room and it's literally all you need in one (unless you're a highlighter freak like me) and having pale skin I was worried by the colour of the bronzer but as you can see in the swatch it's has a very natural tone; it's obviously very dark but when applied with a light hand looks amazing. It does provide a perfect contoured and bronzed look at the same time. I've actually been using this over my Nyx blush in Taupe *le gasp* (but that's partially due to being too lazy to grab it)

I also wanted to try the ELF mineral eye brightener as I couldn't find the HD under eye powder (have they discontinued it?!) I was curious if this would act similarly. I feel like this is a great setting powder for under eye concealer, haven't had any issues, I don't feel it's brightening but I think the yellow undertone helps correct dark circles.

 (cue violins - again) I've started to run out of my favourite primer, Shadow Insurance by Too Faced so I figured I best store that away to use on special occassions and try out a cheaper primer for everyday use and to be honest it works absolutely great. I love the doe foot applicator and I feel like my shadow still performs great and lasts throughout the day, I don't feel like the shadows are as pigmented as my Shadow Insurance, but it's a minor difference & this seriously cost like £1.50 or something so I'm not fussed.

I also wanted to create my own custom palette because I was so curious about their eyeshadows, plus they're only £1.50 each. I'm very impressed with all of them, particularly Truly Pink because I think cheaper brands struggle to get pastel shades with decent opacity and pigmentation, I think ELF pulled it off quite well. My least favourite is driftwood, I can't really pin point a fault I think it's just not for me, since this would probably go in my crease and I'm not a big fan of shimmery crease colours.

 I am actually in love with this primer. If you're a big fan of that velvet/silicon finish GET THIS GOD DAMN IT. I do feel like my pores are less visible (and my face is literally a scene out of the movie Holes) and my foundation applies better, evens my redness and just does lovely things to the visage. Love it.

 I took several pics of me swatching the ELF jumbo eyeshadow pencil in Fancy, because I wanted to show how it hits the light - such a pretty colour omg. If you're looking for a champagne pink base then this is it *in love*

 I got these two in my mystery collection, I'm not a huge fan of lipglosses, I'm just more of a lipstick gal, but I have been using them on days when I want a natural lip for work or just being lazy lol. Dream is a very pretty colour though. I think Bare is pretty in trend right now as a lot of people are doing the brown lips and light skin look.

 If you wanted to see the difference between the top lip stain from the Essential line that's £2.95 or the two bottom lip stains that are £3.95 from the Studio line, then here you are. I have drunk and eaten with both on, I think the more expensive ones last longer, the top one seemed to come off on the inside of my lip rather quickly. They all have matte finishes but I feel the bottom two are less drying, however as you can see the top, cheaper one applies more evenly, I did one coat of each, but you can build up coats on the bottom two. You also get a gloss option with the Studio lip stains, and there are a lot more shades to choose from in comparison to the Essential lip stain. I think I prefer the £3.95 lip stains but I still do really like the £2.95 because it does do the job and lasts, just not as long as the more expensive version.

 I bought Velvet Rope from the Moisturising lipstick range, because I don't actually own a red lipstick that's orange based and I've been really getting into orange lips lately, it's very slightly more orange in real life than it shows in the image. I also got rosy raisin within my mystery collection, a real good 'my lips but better' shade for when you just want a little more colour.

I absolutely love these loose mineral eyeshadows, Angelic is a perfect inner corner highlight, it doesn't look very pigmented when swatched but looks so good when applied to the lid with a white base. Sweet actually goes really well with the Jumbo Eyeshadow base in Fancy, I've been wearing that combo a lot lately.

Restocked on my faves! The mist & set works great for anyone who is curious, apparantly works the same as Urban Decay setting spray! I also really like the brush cleaner but I've heard alcohol works just as good. I just have to be really careful not to get these two mixed up, I did once accidently spray brush cleaner all over my face lol.

And we're done! If you made it this far then please accept 20 Hayley points, thank you for taking the time to read my blog and hope you enjoyed! If you'd like a more in depth review or tutorial using any of the products I featured in this blog post then please do tweet me or leave a comment below!

Twitter - @missrenvoize

SWATCHES | MAX FACTOR SMOKY EYE EFFECT EYESHADOW

Good evening to all (if you're in the UK that is) well.. good day in general for everyone incase you're not from the UK *best intro ever*
Sorry I didn't post on Wednesday, I could go on for ages about why but basically Uni, 'nuff said right?
I just wanted to make sure I did something for this week so I thought 'oh my lets provide some revolutionary swatches'
because I am alwaaaaays looking for swatches, and maybe its a product thats not very popular so it's bloody hard to find decent swatches so anyway lets get on with it...

I'll be swatching the Max Factor Smoky Eye Effect Eyeshadows in a variety of shades.
Haven't seen much on this product on the internet from my personal research so hopefully if you're interested in these this post will be helpful

The product provides two shades in a dual ended tube in a twist-up-lipstick sort of fashion #AwfulDescriptionAward
They retail for £6.99 at Boots, which I think isn't too bad for 2 eyeshadows I feel like you do get a decent amount of product, and Max Factor is a higher end drugstore brand. The idea is to follow the "step 1" and "step 2" signs on each end to get your smoky eye.
Now, I use these as bases for my eyeshadow as I have oily lids, if you don't have oily lids you could probably get away with using just these as an eyeshadow alone. So please bear that in mind when purchasing. As a base I feel they work great, highly pigmented (in my opinion) also very easy and quick application as you just roll it on your eyelid straight away and you'll only need a brush to blend out.

Onyx smoke I really like, the white and black are both very pigmented which I really appreciate because when I buy a black or white I literally want it as white as friggin angel wings and as black as the pits of hell - ya dig? (not sure why the biblical references were necessary)
The black does have glitter in - as you can probably see with your own two eyes - I personally prefer a matte black but its great for parties and when you just feel like going really dramatic.

Silver storm I think would look great on steel blue eyes or cool toned skin. As with all of the swatches, high pigmentation. The purple/plum looks a little grey in the picture but it's definitely more of a deep plum in real life.

Purple Dust looks like two bronze tones in the picture (don't know what was wrong with my camera today!) however the first colour is a warm toned mauve where the second is pretty true to how it shows in the picture as a dark 'antique' gold. This would really compliment warm toned skin, and brown or hazel eyes.

Hope this post helped! Obviously these are just my suggestions but you can definitely use any duo no matter your undertone or eye colour (a lot of magazines/sites say purple doesn't suit blue eyes but I love wearing it haha)

See you next week xo

H&M NUDES PALETTE: SOFT NUDES | REVIEW & SWATCHES

Ended up scrolling through H&M when I came across their cosmetics section and found myself very intrigued. I was never aware of how many products they had available, all I was aware of at the time was their nail polishes, but alas, I've never been so happy to be wrong. Am I really late on discovering this? #noob
I bought one of their 'nudes' palettes in Soft Nudes (£3.99 say whaaaaaat)
Lets continue on by looking at my mediocre photography skills..
(I got an A in Photography would you bloomin' believe it - fun fact of the day)

Swatches on arm correspond to the eyeshadows on the above picture

So first impressions are that they have pretty good pigmentation for £3.99, I can think of more expensive palettes that are equal or below this standard. 

I actually was surprised by how big the eyeshadows were which is great as you're usually surprised at how small it is (that's what she said)

I think this would be great for travelling; the packaging is sturdy and snaps shut, and even though the eyeshadows are large the packaging itself isn't big - they've really used up the space wisely.

Overall lovely staple palette and for doing neutral and very wearable looks but that bronze/gold in the middle adds a little extra oomph and would look great on blue eyes, also you could bring it into night time with the darkest brown but that wouldn't be dramatic enough for me haha.

They have loads of palettes with different shades available I will definitely get more in the future plus I would love to do a swatch post on their lipsticks and lip pencils as they look rather delicious (I couldn't think of a better word)

hope you enjoyed this, you may not have considered H&M as a place for make up but from this palette I am impressed and definitely recommend their products. (If you sign up to H&M right now you can get 25% off!)

Love you long time xo

Disclaimer- I'm not sponsored by H&M to create this post.

HUGE E.L.F HAUL! | NEW ELF MOISTURIZING LIPSTICK SWATCHES & MINI REVIEW!

Happy Wednesday everyone! *confetti flies*
This week I'm doing my first haul, because ELF (eyeslipsface.co.uk) had free shipping and 50% off your order woaaaaah *rolls around on the floor*
AND they have a NEW line of lipsticks out which made me so excite, I had to try some & I will post swatches for you so lets get to it (10 points for reading the whole shabang - don't cheat I'll find out)

I got the eyebrow treat and tame, I really wanted the clear brow/mascara gel thingy-ma-jig but they were out of stock so I just got this one which is basically the same, in the colour Ash, I also use the brow kit in Ash - its amazing if you're blonde

Also got the studio stipple brush, not to use for foundation but to use for blush and I feel like it distributes the product much better than actual brushes designed for applying blush lol - for my foundation I also use the elf studio flat top brush. Just a warning it is smaller than I expected, which is good for me as I'm using it for blush but for the whole face I feel that using this could take a while.

I also purchased the tone correcting concealer in Ivory - I was sceptical about this however I was pleasantly surprised, it blends well and is actually pale and does not oxidise into orange, become cakey or set into fine lines.
I honestly have no problem with this, I feel its best to blend with a brush using a stipple motion as your fingers just slides it all around and wastes product. I would say it has medium coverage but buildable & is neither thick nor thin.
This makes me interested in trying out other concealers, particularly the Studio Maximum Coverage concealer which I have heard is thicker and much more full coverage.
I will show you a before and after using this on a freckle that I have on my arm:

If you look closely you can see it slightly but all in all I don't know why this isn't raved about more often!

ELF Studio Blush in Tickled Pink - medium pink with peach undertone

Cream Eyeliner in Punk Purple.

ELF Studio Corrective Concealer in Erase & Conceal - great for skin with light blemishes but if you have very dark circles / a lot of redness / heavy blemishes then I would search for something more pigmented.

 ELF Studio Eye Enhancing Eyeshadow in Brown Eyes 2 (even though I have blue eyes - oops) 

I was pleasantly surprised, the shadows are very pigmented, apply smoothly and blend well. The second brown in & second to last purple shade both have heavy glitter, where the rest have subtle shimmers, the nude shade in the middle (you can't see as it matches my skin) is matte & a good all over lid colour (if you're pale ofc) which looks great with winged liner to create an overall neat & clean look.

ELF Studio Moisturizing Lipstick in Coral Cutie (top) and Flirty & Fabulous (bottom)

I wasn't expecting such pigmentation as it says "moisturizing" I figured it would be more of a tint but nope! Also I expected a glossy finish however its just like the mineral lipsticks, if you like the mineral lipsticks but want brighter/more colourful shades check these out!

Hope you enjoyed this haul - ELF have brought back the 50% off + free shipping so if you liked any of these products I'd check them out now while you can get it even cheaper (end 1st March 2014!)

xo