September GlossyBox~

My GlossyBox arrived yesterday =DD I had already checked online as to what some people received but my box had a few different things than they ones that I saw online. I'm sure you all know what a GlossyBox is now, but if you don't, I'll quickly go over it. GlossyBox is a monthly subscription service that sends you five high end luxury samples to your doorstep. This costs £10 (+ £2.95 p&p), and can be cancelled anytime. The products can include makeup, haircare, and skincare.

So let's dive in:

The picture above shows the five products that I received this month.

HD Brows

Shopping Trip To Harrods~!

Me and my friend scheduled to go shopping at Harrods today - I knew I was in trouble >< Before even meeting up with her, I ended up at Superdrug and got a few things >< Some of the picture small, just click on the picture to enlarge. So this is what I got from my shopping trip:

BeautyUK Glam Nails (L-R): Smokey Lilac No.51, Yellow 
Peril No. 36, Peach Melba No. 48 - £1.99 each

Care + Surgical Spirit (with 
Castor Oil)- £1.29

I've been wanting a yellow nail polish and I've been eyeing the Barry M one. Barry M usually does a 2 for £4.99 deal and I really wanted the Peach Melba as well. However, the Peach Melba one looked like it had been opened and it was the last one there, so I decided not to get it. As I was looking around for another nail colour, I noticed that BeautyUK had both the yellow and peach colour that I was looking for. There was also a promotion of 3 for £4.99, so I could get another nail polish for the same amount of money so I opeted for the BeautyUK nail polishes instead. I have never tried out a BeautyUK nail polish so I have no idea what the application, finish, and quality is like >< I ended getting a lilac colour as well, the names of the colours from left to right are: Smokey Lilac No. 51, Yellow Peril No. 36, and Peach Melba No. 48. I have no idea why both Barry M and BeautyUK called their peach colour, Peach Melba, I wonder who copied? I also dropped my Benefit Browzings and the powder broke and crumbled. After doing research, I found that you could press the poweder back to normal using surgical spirit. I don't know if I did it wrong, but IT RUINED MY POWDER!! It's back in the pan, but it's not powdery. It has a really glossy feeling, and when I run my finger slash brush over it, it doesn't pick up product? I'm pretty bummed seeing as how the Browzing palette(?) was like over £20 >< Ah well, I've heard that you can use surgical spirit to sanatise makeup, but I'm not 100% about that.

Maybelline Dream Touch Blush in 02 Peach - £4.49 (RRP: £6.49) + Swatch

I've also been eyeing up the Maybelline Dream Touch Blush in 02 Peach for a while now. I've been wanting a peach blush and wanted to try this one out. Boots are having a 3 for 2 deal on makeup, but I didn't have three things to get so I didn't want to just buy things for the sake of it. So when I saw this in Superdrug for £2 off, I think it's £6.49 usually and this was on offer for £4.49, and so I picked it up. It is pretty light and creamy and melts into your skin - it's a bit like butter (without the greasiness). I like the colour and am pleased with this. The blush is actually shimmery, it has very fine glitter in it. I'm not a fan of shimmery blushers, but this is quite subtle, so I'm oki with it.

I then met up with my friend and we headed to Boots before making our way to Harrods. I still have those £5 off No.7 vouchers so I ended up getting two more lipsticks - a nude colour and a sheer dark cherry shade. I am not happy with the nude lipstick and very happy with the dark shade. You can read more about the two lipsticks on my Lipstick Collection blogpost.

My friend works at Harrods, so I got the items below with a discount which I'm really happy about ^^

The big purchase that I got that day was this Marc Jacobs purse. I know I wanted an "grown up" purse where you don't have to fold up your notes and you have a place to put your cards (trust me, I have a lot of cards). I knew I couldn't afford a top designer brand, so I was looking at brands like Marc Jacobs, DKNY, Vivienne Westwood, etc. I saw this Marc Jacobs purse after seeing others, and I knew that this one was my favourite. It's very slim and the leather is very soft - it's just gorgeous. It's like an envelope and when you open the flap, you have a place for your notes, and a zip compartment for your loose change. You also have space for your cards and a place for receipts? It makes me feel really grown up and I'm actually pretty scared to use it - I don't want to ruin it.

My mum likes Hello Kitty so I got her a five and a half inch Hello Kitty plush doll. She also asked me to pick up a 30ml Lancome Tresor Perfume for her. My brother also asked me to look for a nice pen for him, but they were all pretty much out of his price range. I did see a nice pen that has a magnetic system which is pefect for putting in your bag and not having to worry about it opening and staining the lining of your bag. It has a jewel on the top of the pen (which comes in a variety of different colours, I chose the black one). I didn't think the jewel was very masculine, so I just got one for myself. I also collect playing cards and saw this red bus and taxi one which is very symbolic of London and had the Harrods branding on it, so I picked it up to add to my collection ^^

Those are the things that I got from my shopping trip - I'm just in love with the Marc Jacobs purse. Happy shopping guys, and until next time..

- Diem xo

My Lipstick Collection

Just thought I would share with you guys what I have in my Lipstick collection. I don't have that many lipsticks because I'm pretty lazy to keep reapplying lipstick throughout the day. Also, and I have an allergic reaction to some of the lip prodcuts, but I'm not sure what it is so I'm pretty hesitant to try out new lipsticks slash lip glosses.

Let's get started:

Below are the swatches of my nine lipsticks and below the swatches are the individual lipsticks and swatches.

1. No.7 Sheer Temptation Lipstick in 20 Entice [3g] - £10-£10.50
2. Max Factor Colour Collections Lipstick in 894 Raisin - £7.99 (Mine is a sample size)
3. ELF Studio Matte Lip Colour in Natural [1.8g] - £3.50
4. Sleek Sheer Cover Lipstick in 813 Satin [1.8g] - £3.70
5. MAC Sheen Supreme Lipstick in Gotta Dash! [3.6g] - £13.50
6. GOSH Velvet Touch Lipstick in 82 Exotic [4g] - £6.49
7. No.7 Stay Perfect Lipstick in 72 Tangerine Touch - £10-£10.50
8. No.7 Stay Perfect Lipstick in 40 Mischief - £10-£10.50
9. GOSH Velvet Touch Lipstick in 43 Tropical Pink [4g] - £6.49

No.7 Sheer Temptation Lipstick
in 20 Entice - £10-£10.50

ELF Studio Matte Lip
Colour in Natural - £3.50

Max Factor Colour Collections
Lipstick in 894 Raisin - £7.99

GOSH Velvet Touch Lipstick
in 82 Exotic - £6.49

MAC Sheen Supreme Lipstick
in Gotta Dash!  - £13.50

Sleek Sheer Cover Lipstick
in 813 Satin - £3.70

GOSH Velvet Touch Lipstick in
43 Tropical Pink - £6.49

No.7 Stay Perfect Lipstick in
72 Tangerine Touch - £10-£10.50

No.7 Stay Perfect Lipstick
in 40 Mischief - £10-£10.50

Ahh, I'm FINALLY getting round to actually writing something in this blog post ¬¬ So here it goes:

• No.7 Sheer Temptation Lipstick in 20 Entice

This lipstick is probably my favourite in both colour and formula. I really like the colour because it adds a touch of colour to my lips and pairs nicely with a lot of my other lipsticks. It is pretty sheer so it probably looks like lipgloss rather than lipstick. It does give the lips a very glossy look as well. The lipstick has glitter in it, but it doesn't make your lips obviously glittery. I love the slightly dark colour - it's not overpowering. It feels pretty moisturising and makes your lips look moisturised.

• Max Factor Colour Collections Lipstick in 894 Raisin

I'm not a huge fan of the colour of this lipstick - it's definitely not a colour I would pick out for myself. I got this lipstick as a free gift with purchase. I've tried it out a few times at home, but I don't think I've actually worn this lipstick and left my house? I have nothing bad to say about the formula of the lipstick and it doesn't have a strong lipstick smell. It is a good colour for autumn (fall) so I might try to branch out and actually wear this lipstick out.

• ELF Studio Matte Lip Colour in Natural

As one would expect from a matte lip colour, this can be quite drying on the lips. I'm not a huge fan of the colour when worn alone. I think it looks a bit chalky on my lips so I do like to wear a gloss or the Entice lipstick on top of it. The packaging looks awfully cheap, and the branding has pretty much worn off. I think it wears off better than some - but do be aware of the white ring on the inside of the lips. It also has a slight smell to it, but is not too offputting.

• Sleek Sheer Cover Lipstick in 813 Satin

This was a complete disappointment when this lipstick arrived because I was expecting a pale frosted pink colour. I purchased this from the Sleek website and the site portrayed this colour as a pale frosted pink, and instead I received quite a dark rosy colour. I like the formula and the sheerness of the colour so it wasn't a complete waste. I also think this is an appropriate colour for autumn slash fall, and maybe I'll get some more wear from this.

• MAC Sheen Supreme Lipstick in Gotta Dash!

This is my only high end lipstick purchase, and to be completely honest with you - it was a waste of money. The colour is absolutely gorgeous - it's a lovely coral colour, exactly what I was looking for. I don't think it suits me (but that's more my fault than anything). What I don't like about this is that it just highlights the dryness of my lips. Unless my lips are completely moisturised after using lip balm and a lip scrub, this would not look good on me. I would have to wear this with a lipgloss, I don't think I could ever wear this alone >< And for how much it cost - I expected it amazing. I also feel like it won't last too long, as in, I've already noticed that I used a lot of it already, even though I haven't used it that often.

• GOSH Velvet Touch Lipstick in 82 Exotic

I don't know what possessed me to purchase a bright orange lipstick - it is so hard to wear. Not only that, it makes your teeth look really yellow as well >< I only use a small amount of this lipstick and pair it with another colour to try to make it more wearable. It does have a stronger smell that my other lipsticks, but you should expect that. I also think that your lips should be in good condition if you want to wear this lipstick.

• No.7 Stay Perfect Lipstick in 72 Tangerine Touch

This is another orange colour that has a bit more pink in it which makes it a bit more wearable. It has a really creamy texture and looks good when dabbed onto the lip rather than smeared on.

• No.7 Stay Perfect Lipstick in 40 Mischief

A nice bubblegum pink colour, I keep this in my bag for on the go. I really like this creamy texture (it's the same as the one above). You do have to be careful and dab the lipstick on as well, and it may leave a white ring (especially if you're not hydrated).

• GOSH Velvet Touch Lipstick in 43 Tropical Pink

This is a bright frosted pink colour, I don't really have anything to say about this lipstick other than it has the same properties mentioned above. I'm not brave enough to wear such a bright coloured lipstick so I do mute it down with lipstick or another colour.

UPDATE

No.7 Sheer Temptation Lipstick
in 70 Sassy - £10

No.7 Moisture Drench Lipstick
in 02 Rumour (with SPF15) - £10

Since making this blogpost, I got two more lipsticks:

• No.7 Moisture Drench Lipstick in 02 Rumour (with SPF15) - £10

Apparently a new shade from No.7, this is a true nude lipstick. I really dislike this lipstick, it does not look good at all. Your lips need to be in perfect condition for it to look good. It does not suit me (again, my fault). It leaves a nasty white ring. I'm not sure how I will wear this lipstick, I will probably need to pair this with a lot of lipgloss ><

• No.7 Sheer Temptation Lipstick in 70 Sassy [3g] - £10 

This is a deep berry colour that is sheer and glossy. It's darker than the Entice lipstick, but is in the same colour family. It also has glitter in it, but is not garishly sparkly or glittery on the lips. I just smelled it, and it does not have a pleasant smell, but I did not notice this until I made a point to see how it smelled. It is perfect for the autumn slash fall, and will be one of my go to lipsticks this season. It's also perfect for people who want to try out a darker colour but are scared to go all out and get a solid dark berry vampish colour. This is a sheer colour and looks more like a berry lip balm than a dark cherry slash barry lipstick. And when you become used to it, you can then branch into the striking dark lipstick effect.

And this is the end of my lipstick collection, not a big one by any means. I've gotten most of these lipsticks in the last couple of months. I'm just the type of girl who touches up her lipstick - it never really crosses my mind. But since I've actually put one in my bag, maybe I will pay more attention to my lips, hehe.

Happy shopping y'all, and until next time..

- Diem xo

Another ELF Discount Code

BUT I WON'T BE ORDERING..!!

50% off all lines, products, all shades, all elf! Minimum order value of £25. Offer valid until 2am (UK time) on 12th September 2011.

250KFB (UK and European Customers)
250KFBIT (Italian Customers)

www.eyeslipface.co.uk

Happy Shopping.. And until next time..

- Diem xo

I need to stop hauling..

 So I met up with another friend after work today and ended up going to a couple of shops. I had another £5 off No.7 voucher and ended up getting a few products. I wanted to get another lipstick and when I purchased one, they gave me another voucher, so I ended up getting another lipstick, hehe. And on my way out, I noticed that Boots were doing a 3 for 2 offer on hair products so I got 3 bottles of Batiste dry shampoo. If you've never used dry shampoo before, then you've been missing out. It's a powder that you spray into your hair and it absorbs the oil so you don't have to wash your hair everyday (which is bad for your hair). I got the really big bottles, the 400ml ones, and they were £4.99 each. Because they were on offer, I paid £9.98 for three HUGE bottles of dry shampoo, which is awesome. I wash my hair every other day (which I think is the recommended amount), and I use dry shampoo on the days that I don't wash it. It really is effective and worth buying, plus, this tropical one smells AMAZE. The only big bottles I saw at my Boots were the coconut & exotic tropical, floral & flirty blush, and the original - I thought I would give the pink one a try also. You just spray it into your hair, massage it in, brush, and you're good to go. I have used the smaller bottles and I much prefer the 400ml one - I think it has a greater range when you spray it so it doesn't just focus on one small area so it distributes the product more evenly. I highly recommend trying dry shampoo if you've never used it, and to get the big bottles (it's better value for money anyway).

I got two No.7 lipsticks that were £10 each. The Boots on Oxford street is more expensive than my local one - a lot of the products were 50p more expensive. I ended up paying £5 for each lipstick rather than £5.50 yesterday. I think they give you a voucher if you spend £5 or more instore, so I actually have 2 more vouchers to use =DD I got a bright orange (orange coral?) Stay Perfect lipstick that is has a matte-like finish. The colour is 72 Tangerine Touch. I have an orange lipstick from GOSH, but I think this colour is more wearable and the GOSH one has a frost finish which I'm not too fond of. I ended up getting another lipstick but this time it was the Sheer Temptation lipstick in the colour 20 entice which is a deep plum colour. As the lipstick is sheer, the colour is wearable and is absolutely gorgeous paired up with the Stay Perfect lipstick in 40 Mischief (the pink colour that I purchased yesterday). The lipstick has glitter in it which almost put me off buying it, but I don't think it's really noticeable when applied so don't think that it will be really sparkly on your lips (I'm not a huge fan of glittery lips).

I then headed over to TK Maxx because the last time I was there, I saw that they had the Fluff marshmallow spread but it wasn't convenient to get it at the time, so I wanted to grab a jar today. I remember doing some research on it before and wondering how much it would cost because I know it's not widely available in the UK. I think Cyber Candy sells it (at an extortionately marked up price), and I think you can get it on Amazon.co.uk where the delivery charge would be more expensive than the product. TK Maxx is selling a jar (net weight 213g) for £1.99 which I think is reasonable. In case you're wondering if they sell it in your local TK Maxx, check by the tills because that's where my TK Maxx had it. If you don't know what Fluff is, it's a marshmallow spread which you can put on toast - yummy. It tastes like marshmallow but it's spreadable (for a lack of a better word). It's like a toasted marshmallow without the charred taste, hehe. They only had the raspberry flavoured one, I'm not sure how many different flavours there are, but this one tastes really good! As I was paying for it, I could see all the different sweets that they had and a tube of black jelly beans caught my eye. I have an incredible sweet tooth and I adore liquorice so I couldn't pass up the chance to get a whole tube of liquorice flavoured jelly beans. These are by the brand, The Jelly Bean Factory, which might be a rival slash knock off of Jelly Belly but it tastes the same to me ^^ They were £1.49 for 100g.

I really am going to try to stop spending money, although I have organised a shopping trip for next week. I hope you guys are well, happy shopping, and until next time..

- Diem xo

Discounted Goodies - No.7 + Debenhams

I went to Oxford St. today with my lovely friend Carina (mucho love ^^) and I got a couple of things. They're nothing much, but I love blogging, so here I am, past midnight and blogging about the two things I got. Let's not remind myself that I have work tomorrow morning >< So hopefully, this will be a very quick blog~

 The first thing I got was this lipstick from No. 7 - they're giving out the £5 off No. 7 products and they're the only time I would ever purchase anything from this brand. I really think that over the years, this brand has increased their prices on a larger scale than most brands. And for what it is, I don't think it's worth buying No. 7 products without the voucher. Not too long ago, I purchased brushes and nail varnishes (again, using the voucher), and I was shocked to learn of the price increase. I remember that I paid an extra £2 for nail polish as they retail for £7. Now, they're £7.50 - and they're not even that great. I would never spend £7, let alone £7.50 on a No. 7 varnish - it really isn't worth it. However, at £2.50, I would give it a go - and they do have some really nice colours. I found it really hard to pick a product today, I had no idea what to pick. I ended up choosing this light pink colour called Mischief, and I believe it to be a frost finish (but I could be wrong). This lipstick would cost £10.50 at full price (extortionate), but was £5.50 with the £5 off voucher. I still think £5.50 is on the pricey side, but I think that's just because I'm quite cheap, har har. It really is a nice colour, and it doesn't seem to draw attention to the dry parts of my lips - so thumbs up from me ^^

After Boots, I headed to Debenhams because I know that they're having a new season sale - where beauty items and perfumes (perhaps more? I don't know) are 10%. I've heard that Debenhams also do VAT free sales so be on the lookout for that. I wasn't sure what I wanted to get, I just knew I wanted to take advantage of the discount - this discount is also available online + free delivery (but I'm not sure when this ends). I did see the red DKNY perfume (the apple shaped one) for half price, it was only £23.50, but I still have a half-full (I'm trying to be optimistic) Nina Ricci perfume (the green apple one) and an unopened one (also by Nina Ricci, but the red one, hehe). I didn't think I needed another apple scented perfume. I really do like sweet smells and I really wanted mini perfume bottles to put in my purse - I do not like to carry a lot slash heavy things in my purse, so allow carrying a full sized bottle of perfume. Two mini collections caught my eye: the Escada collection and the Anna Sui one. I was on the bus and this girl sprayed a perfume, and it smelt incredible. She showed me the bottle and it was of a girl's head - which I think is Dolly Girl (but I'm not 100%). However, that particular perfume wasn't part of the Anna Sui mini collection and so I asked them if they knew what the Escada perfumes smelt like. They only had the Taj Sunset one which smells absolutely delicious (I've been watching Psych, hehe). I was completely sold on this collection and this one costs £22, and the Anna Sui one was £26 (I think). With the 10% discount, this collection cost £19.80.
I'm really bad at describing scents, all I know is, that they're all pretty fruit sweet smelling scents.

Taj Sunset: Opens with notes of Alphonso mango, nectarine, and blood orange. The heard features aquatic flowers with raspberry and pomarosa or Malay apple. The base consists of coconut, sandalwood, and musk.

Sunset Heat: Has notes of papaya, lemon, mango sherbet, pineapple mousse, icy watermelon, peach lotus flower, hibiscus, sandalwood, musk, and amber crystals.

Moon Sparkle: It opens with notes of strawberry, blackcurrant, citruses, and red fruits. Middle notes reveal sweet pea, freesia, jasmine, and rose, and this fragrant bouquet is followed by raspberry, musk, sandalwood, and amber in the base.

Ocean Lounge: Top notes are lychee, plum, pear nectar accord and strawberry meringue accord; middle notes are violet petal sorbet aromas, mimosa blossom, and jasmine; base notes are amber, sheer vanilla, and teak wood.

Marine Groove: Composed of passion fruit, peony, jasmine, and musk.

That's all I got, I didn't want to spend too much money. I had some nice Korean food to end the day, hehe =DD Do take advantage of Debenhams' 10% off deal, and Boots' £5 off No.7 products ^^ Happy shopping, and until next time..

- Diem xo

ELF Discount Code

Free Shipping + Free Gift at http://www.eyeslipsface.co.uk/

I don't want to upload any pictures that don't belong to me so I'll just leave the link to the product - it's the 27 Piece Mini Makeup Collection, Item No. #85002 and it's worth £15! http://www.eyeslipsface.co.uk/product~prodID~165.htm

There's a minimum order of £20/€23. Just enter the following codes at the checkout:

SEPTEMBERUK (UK Customers)
SEPTEMBEREU (European Customers)
SEPTEMBERIT (Italian Customers)

Offer ends tomorrow at 3pm (Wednesday 7th September 2011)

I think this is the link to the ad promotion, but I'm not 100% sure:
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=69a4ngcab&v=001hS7OD_IhnlEnpuMyetWHS8edS2MDJSnqA_wn70APxy8Va0ddpP03os_7p1UGzpz0Ra2K2xtSZfffMdWimOhPqKljzx6NSiUa2aFkOm-B3umYay8kI9eneowxiOBcFgtuxFGbEBAdagg%3D

This is a good time to get a some products from ELF if you have been wanting to try out a few of their products. Who doesn't like free shipping and a free gift? Happy shopping and until next time..

- Diem xo

Another ELF Haul ^^

So.. ELF was doing another 50% off promotion over the bank holiday, and my package finally arrived =)) I literally opened this package and took pictures of them right away so I have yet to try out the products properly so don't expect much of a review on these products, I'll probably just do a description.
If you're interested as to when ELF does these promotions, sign up to their newsletters and they'll email you their offers and promotions. I also wanted to be eligible for free delivery (on orders over £30), so I had to purchase £60+ worth of goodies and apply the 50% discount code. I ended up getting 17 items and the total was £30.50.

So let's get started:

So this is all the goodies that I got - I just removed all the bubble wrap and put it back into the box =DD

The whole reason for this whole haul is because I really wanted to a brush belt for me to put my makeup brushes if I wanted to travel or if someone wanted me to do their makeup for them. I wanted to get this belt when I made my first ever order with ELF (my first ELF haul blog post), but I didn't want to spend too much money back then. I was just waiting for ELF to do another 50% promotion to get this, I didn't realise how soon they would do another one. So this Makeup Artist Brush Belt was £15, but I only paid £7.50 for it. The brush belt has 20 brush slots and 4 openings where you can hold other tools such as puffs, wedges, wipes, etc. The brush slots are quite large so you can probably fit more than one eye slash lip brush into the slots. The belt has a buckle type fastening (as you can see from the picture) and you can loosen and fasten as desired, there's quite a lot of give so it will fit most people. The brushes you can see in the slot did not come with the brush belt - they were brushes I purchases separately (just FYI).

I got four brushes from the Studio line that cost £1.75 (£3.50 r.r.p). I got two Powder Brushes - I got one of these last time I ordered and absolutely fell in love with it, so I had to get a couple more ^^. I decided to get a fluffy face brush so I ended up getting the Complexion Brush which you can see on the right. I also took a shot of how the brush looks from a bird's eye view. As you can see the shape is more oval than rounded. I think after a bit of use, the brush will become more rounded. I know that some people have been disappointed with some of the ELF face brushes (such as the blush brush) because the pictures are quite deceiving. The website only shows the brush from a head on angle, and so you don't get an idea of how thick(?) the brush is. The ones that I've gotten are all very pleasantly surprising - although I did do a bit of research before ordering them. The brushes are all very soft and are highly recommended. I have yet to properly use the Complexion brush, but the Powder brush that I've used everyday to buff in my foundation has not shed at all, and is extremely very good value for just £1.75. I wanted to try out a bent eyeliner brush - ELF calls it the Angled Eyeliner Brush, to apply gel eyeliner. I usually use an angled eyeliner brush to apply my gel eyeliner, but I wanted to see if I would prefer if a bent eyeliner brush, and I didn't want to spend too much money on one to try out - I'll let you know how it goes.

Above are makeup that I got for the face: Complexion Perfection (£1.75, £3.50 rrp), High Definition Powder (£3, £6 rrp), Corrective Concealer (£1.75, £3.50 rrp), and Warm Bronzer (£1.75, £3.50 rrp). The Complexion Perfection compact has different coloured powders to even out, brighten, and neutralise the skin tone. The Corrective Concealer also does the same thing - green cancels out redness, peach neutralises the darkness under the eyes, and pink/purple evens out skin tone. I also wanted to try out a HD powder and I read a lot of good reviews on the ELF one. I added the Bronzer to the basket because I wanted to reach £30 (after discount) and I like Bronzer, so I thought I would give this one a try (after I finish my NARS Laguna one). I didn't take a picture of the actual items because I could still give these away as gifts, and so I didn't want to open them.

I'm usually hesitant to purchase lip products because I get an allergic reaction to certain ones - and I'm not sure what it is that makes me react. And because of this reason, I don't actually own many lip products, and in turn, I don't really use much (which is funny seeing as lip gloss was the first "makeup" that I was allowed to wear, but I digress). I didn't want to spend too much so I decided to get one ELF lip product and ended up choosing the Matte Lip Colour in Natural (£1.75, £3.50 rrp). The packaging looks very cheap (probably because it is). It's a retractable pencil-type and so looks like a lip liner but is much larger than a lip liner. The product is not soft and creamy as I had expected but applies nicely. As with most matte lipsticks, it is a bit drying on the lips so make sure you have plenty of lip balm at hand, hehe. It doesn't really highlight and draw attention to any dry areas on your lips (which some of my lipsticks do) so that's a positive. It does look slightly chalky, but overall, I'm pretty happy with it and will definitely be using this. It doesn't have much a smell, but it does taste pretty weird so be sure not to lick your lips when you have this on. I think this lip colour might wear off unevenly so you may have to keep touching up throughout the day - I haven't used this product enough to let you guys know how long lasting this product is but I will definitely do a full review on this soon.

I think the two items that I actually really wanted were the brush belt and the Matte Finisher nail polish. I'm really excited to try this out - hopefully it'll live up to my expectations, hehe.

A lot of the items above were just a basket filler for me to reach the £30 target (after discount). I decided to try out the Eyebrow Stencil Kit (£0.75, £1.50 rrp) because I remember watching a video by MakeupByTiffanyD saying that using a stencil over your eyebrows when you use powder to fill them in really does make a difference, and for only 75p, why not give it a go? As you can see, they have four different shapes, and you pick the one that best matches your eyebrow shape. They are made of a flexible plastic material and can be reused. I'll give you the directions of use as written on the packaging: Choose the stencil that best fits your natural eyebrow shape. The stencil should align at the point 1 and point 2* and much of your natural brow hair should be inside the stencil cut-out. Next fill in the brow area with your desired filler preference, such as a brow pencil or a brow powder. Simply flip the same stencil and repeat the precious steps to fill in your other brow. *Point one is where your eyebrow starts and point two is where they end. I have yet to use this, but will do a review on them when I have, and let you know whether or not I think it's worth in investing.

I think I'm obsessed with false eyelashes, I can't seem to stop buying them. The Natural False Lashes £0.75, £1.50 rrp) are extremely disappointed. As soon as I looked at it, I could tell that the two are not the same length! As you can seem one is much longer than the other - what is that all about?! I will still probably use these as eyelashes are not the same on both eyes, but still - fix up ELF!

There's not much I can say about the Matte Nail Polish (£0.75, £1.50 rrp) just yet apart from that the top does not align with the bottle when you tighten it shut. I loved Avon's liquid eyeshadow so I wanted to give the ELF one a try and it was dirt cheap - only 75p (£1.50 rrp)! I got the colour Sultry Satin which is a light gold beige colour. The colour does look different to how it looks on the site, but is still a nice colour nontheless. I also got the Mineral Eyeshadow Primer to give it a go. The only eyeshadow primers I have used are the MAC Prep + Prime and Urban Decay's Primer Potion. I absolutely LOVE the UD Primer Potion and think it's absolutely worth the money. I'm not a big fan of the MAC one, and comparing it to the UD one, there's no contest. The Primer Potion is really expensive though so I thought to see how the ELF one would compare to it. This cost only £1.50 (£3 rrp) which is uber cheap compared to UD's £14.50. I also opted for the more "pricey" eyeshadow primer from their Mineral line. They have other eyeshadow primers that were £1.50 (75p after discount) and an eyeshadow primer set for £3.50 (£1.75 after discount).

The last two things I got were the Nail Block and the Powder Puffs (set of 4), both were £0.75, ££1.50 rrp. Everyone needs a nail file block, and this one had four different sides for different purposes which I thought would be good when I give myself manicures. I decided to get the powder puffs to pat my face after I apply powder to remove any excess powder to make sure my face doesn't look caked on with powder (as it often has been in the past ><). Although I did not plan to get these items, I think they are quite useful to have, and are pretty cheap. The powder puffs are made of a cotton material and are pretty soft - I wouldn't use them to apply powder, but I do think they would be good at removing excess.

I hope you have found the pictures and descriptions useful for when or if you decide to order from ELF. I have heard stories about ELF being a hit and miss with products, and I think I can kind of see why. I think that my false eyelashes were a bit of a miss, but perhaps you'll be luckier and get a more identical batch, hehe. I do think that the products are worth the money even without the discount. Happy shopping guys, and until next time..

- Diem xo