Avon SuperShock Gel Eyeliner - Blackened Metal

If you had a chance to read my previous Blog 'Elf Haul March 2013' you will know that the liner I bought was a bit of a disaster. It jogged my memory that about 6 months ago I purchased a Gel eye liner from Avon. So I hunted high & low, finally locating it and the brush I bought to go with it and thought I would try it out properly.

I LOVE this liner. I wouldn't normally extend my liner this far, but wanted to show you just how gorgeous it it. 

I purchased this in 'Blackened Metal' which is opaque black with flecks of glitter in it. I also purchased the brush as it doesn't come with a liner brush & I didn't own one. If I remember rightly the liner was £3 (roughly) and the brush was £2/3. I have checked the avon catalogue & it doesn't appear to be in there at the moment so let's hope it is in a campaign soon as I need to purchase some more! 

The product comes in a glass jar and it seems solid and not very 'gel like' but once the brush starts to pick up product you can see that it isn't solid. Application wise it goes on very easily although I did have to apply two applications to get the depth of colour I like from my liner.

Once on it doesn't want to shift too easily and takes a bit of elbow grease to get it off, so if you make any mistakes wipe it off quickly before it can dry. The gel can get a bit grainy/clumpy on the brush, the first line I drew left me with a bit of fallout, but I found that keeping a tissue to wipe the excess product on to avoided this problem. Once built up the black is a solid black liner, with flecks of glitter in and it was so easy to create a wing/flick with this product.

I would give this a 9/10. I have removed 0.5 for the fact that Avon sometimes sell it & sometimes don't. It's annoying when you need something & can't buy it. I have removed the other 0.5 for the need to build up the colour. Although it isn't really a problem, it would be better if one application gave the depth you want.

I highly recommend this product to anyone.

For anyone who was wondering what I used to do the eye shadow (it's not my best, I just put it on quick to do the liner for you) here's my product list:

Base: E.L.F. Jumbo Eye Shadow Stick in French Lace

Lid: E.L.F. Baked eye shadow in Pixie

Highlight: E.L.F. Baked Blush in Pinktastic

Crease/Outer Corner: E.L.F. Baked Eye Shadow in Dusk

Inner Corner: E.L.F. Butter Cream (Please don't use this as I realised after it made me look jaundice... this colour sucks!)

Liner: Avon SuperShock Gel Eyeliner in Blackened Metal

Mascara: E.L.F. Lengthening & Defining Mascara in Black

As Always Thank You For Reading xxx

ELF Haul March 2013

**Warning - this is going to be a long one**

For some time I have been debating purchasing a few ELF products. Last Sunday I stumbled across an E.L.F sale, 50% off for St. David's Day. As I am Welsh I felt I couldn't say no. Had to be patriotic and celebrate Dewi Sant now didn't we? So I purchased myself a few things. Yesterday morning my items arrived so here's some pics, swatches & reviews.

A little disclaimer for you all to start with *** These are all my own opinions & no one elses. I purchased all of the following items from http://eyeslipsface.co.uk/ with my own money. ***

OK so let's crack on. Apologies my digital camera died on me & I couldn't find batteries any where so had to use my i-phone to take the pics. If there are any items you want an in depth review on let me know and I will do that for you but if I go too much in depth this blog will be 900 pages long. I will give Full prices because this is how much they would cost if you went to purchase the items now.

The 9 piece professional brush set. It comes in a handy roll up with two zipped sections to put some of your cosmetics in, good for on the go or an over night bag. The brushes included are:

Total Face Brush, Bronzing Brush, Foundation Brush, Brow Comb and Brush, Eye Liner Brush, Defining Eye Brush, Smudge Eye Sponge, Eye Shadow Brush, Lip Defining Brush. Price: £15

Comments - 8/10 Good set & the majority of the brushes do what they are supposed to. They are new so not sure how long the life on these will be. The only brush I hate is the lip defining brush, all the others are generally OK. A few loose hairs but do what they are supposed to. Over all I like this set and you get what you pay for.

ELF 32 piece eye shadow palette. I purchased mine in 'Brights'. You also have the option of 'Everyday' & 'Natural'. Price: £5

Comments - 9/10 for only £5 this palette is amazing. The mix of neutral, bright & dark shades is what caught my attention. The colour pay off is good on all shades but better on others. My only criticism there are too many shimmers. I think there are 4 mattes, the rest are shimmery. For £5 though this is a really good palette & a brilliant start-up item for make-up newbies, I'm tempted to purchase the every day one also.

Elf All Over Cover Stick. My cover stick is in Ivory (middle). Other colour options are available. Creamy stick of concealer. Smells a bit like orange sherbert, or cheap orangeade. Price £1.50

Comments - 7/10 It was a bit more yellow in tone than I would have liked, as normally Ivory is more pink in tone. Coverage was medium, it is very creamy and blends well. I tried to use it on my lid just to even the tone of my skin as I get dark circles but it creased quite badly. There's not a lot of product in these at all so once you find one you like the colour of I would definitely buy a couple to have them in stock. As a concealer though & for only £1.50 it's a good product.

Elf All Over Color Sticks - color sticks (it's how the brand spell it sorry!!) are in Toasted (left) & Persimmon (right). Sticks of creamy colour you can use on eyes lips and face. They have the same orange smell as the cover stick but not as strong. The two I bought are shimmery not sure what the others are like, but there are other colours available. Price: £1.50 each

Comments - Toasted 10/10 I actually love this product. Toasted makes a good bronze/contour. I found it creased a little with out a primer on my lids but with a primer there was no problem. Worked perfectly for a lip colour, mix between a lipstick & a balm. It's quite shimmery, but I like that, it gives a nice glow.

Persimmon 6/10 I was disappointed. The swatch above looks deep in colour but the photo is misleading, there's very little pigmentation to this, it is mainly shimmer. I bought it as it appeared pinkish on the website so I thought it would make a good blush, but the pink/colour isn't strong enough to be a blush. It's very full of shimmer, good as a shimmery eye-shadow for a night look, or a highlight on the cheek, but I'm not a fan of this colour. For £1.50 this is a gem of a product as it really does work all over your face. I would advise if you find a colour you like then stock up & stick to it! Expect shimmer too.

Elf Single Eyeshadow - (L-R) Charcoal, Totally Teal & Butter Cream. Powdered Eyeshadows. There are 12 other colours in the range. Price £3.75 each.

Comments - Charcoal & Totally Teal 8/10 WOW! the colour pay off with these two are amazing. They apply well, blend easily but don't fade too quickly. They feel silky, are shimmery but not too much. The colour is strong enough to hold its own. Downsides for £3.75 I think there should be more product, and although mainly silky there is a bit of chalkiness there. 

Butter Cream 5/10. Compared to the other two this was a huge disappointment. It was very chalky and dusty. The colour looked amazing when I swatched it but as soon as I applied it to my eyelid the pigmentation was lost. Due to the shimmer it works well as a highlight though. Over all their eye shadow appears good quality & I would repurchase the charcoal & teal, but something went wrong when they made butter cream. Bit pricey for the little amount you get.

ELF Baked Eyeshadow - (L-R) Pixie (Pink/gold), Enchanted (Peach/gold) & Dusk (Gunmetal grey/blue with silver shimmer). Eye shadows baked in the oven. They are silky shadows with shimmer. Price:£3.75 each.

Comments - 9/10 I have wanted a product like this in forever. Well since I saw MAC's Mineralize range. But at £16.50 per shadow I couldn't bring myself to try this. So when I realised ELF had these products I had to try them. I am not saying they are the same quality as MAC as I have never used a MAC product yet. (Always wanted to but breaks my heart to spend that much money on one item). Dusk was actually the one when I ordered I wasn't sure of and when it turned up I loved this more than the other two. It's pigmentation is intense, perfect for a smoky eye, a liner, crease colour or if you are brave an all over lid colour. I am in love with this colour. Enchanted & Pixie are both well pigmented, high in shimmer, very warm for an all over lid colour, but also possibly could be highlights too. These three shadows won me over big time & I am definitely going to purchase the other three colours. Well worth the money, a must try product I'd definitely advise you get DUSK as it is a little treasure pot of joy! 

Sorry I forgot to take a swatch on the next two products!! fail. Moving on.

ELF Baked Blush - In pinktastic (Shimmery beige with pink marble). There are three other colours & also some baked bronzers available in their range. These Blushes are marbled silk shimmery blushes baked in the oven. Price: £3.75

Comments - 6/10 The low score is 100% because this isn't a blush. Their Peachy Cheeky, Pink Passion & Rich Rose look like some lovely blush colours and since seeing some swatches a friend showed me they are pigmented blushes with a hint of shimmer. Pinktastic is a highlighter at best. The product quality is amazing. It's very silky, and the beige pigment has a really good pay off. A light amount of this will give you the full effect of the product. The pink however isn't strong enough to show up in the haze of shimmer, is washed out and so makes a useless blush. I will be purchasing one of the other colours as the product quality is good but I definitely don't recommend the Pinktastic unless you want a highlighter... blush wise it doesn't do what it's supposed to.

Healthy Glow Bronzing Powder - This was in Sun Kissed. They also have, Luminance, Warm Tan & Matte Bronze. Don't be fooled by that last name, they are all shimmers. Price: £1.50

Comments - 9/10 I love this bronzer. It is silky smooth, very light & not much product is needed to give you a glow. It is a bronzer but it is very gold in colour too. You can build it up to get a stronger bronze colour quite easily though. Definitely one for the repurchase list.

ELF Jumbo Shadow Sticks - (L-R) French Lace (Light pink/champagne with gold shimmer), Rock Out (Taupe/Brown with bronze shimmer) & Little Miss Thing (beige/gold with a gold shimmer). There are other colours available. These are creamy eye shadow sticks and all of the colours in the range, except for Like a Boss, are shimmery. Price: £2.50

Comments - 8/10 I really like these. They are very creamy, easy to apply. I've read people complaining they don't make a good eye liner. Well dear that would be because its not. Its a jumbo crayon of cream eye shadow. They do crease with out a primer, but with a primer they seem to work fine. FL & LMT are very good base colours but do fade after a few hours so if you want a long lasting look i.e. day through night then you will either need to touch up or use something else. For £2.50 the quality is quite good, once again you get what you pay for.

Elf Eyebrow Treat & Tame - in Dark. There are other colours (Light, Medium, Ash & Deep). One end is a clear vitamin enfused formula that promotes regrowth of brow hair & conditions the brows. The second end is a Brow mascara. Price: £3.75

Comments - 9/10 I seriously love this. The only reason I haven't given it a 10 is I haven't had long enough to try out the treatment side, I've only used it once. The Brow mascara is amazing. It coats the brows but doesn't look product heavy & you can't feel the product after application (which sometimes pencils make me feel cakey in the brow area). Definitely a re-purchase. Good quality.

ELF Flawless Finish Foundation - I purchased Porcelain. Semi Matte, Silky, Liquid foundation with SPF 15. Price: £6.75

Comments - 6/10 This isn't the worst foundation I've ever ordered and for me it did what I needed. I've marked it down as it was a little on the orange/yellow toned side when I first applied it. Usually Porcelain/Ivory are pink toned but ELF so far hasn't stuck with this. I had to really blend this in to get it to match, but it did blend well so it wasn't a major problem. It says oil free but if you have oily skin I wouldn't recommend this product. My skin is quite dry normally but it appeared dewy when wearing this. It looked good & healthy glowing compared to my usual dryness but on someone with oily skin I don't think this would work. It creases quite badly in the eyelid so I would recommend minimal product in this area or your shadow will crease with it. It's quite expensive for the small amount of product. The glass is thick & chunky and the product minimal. If I see a half price sale I will repurchase but for almost £7 there are much better products, less oily and with larger quantities of product.

Elf Lengthening & Defining Mascara - Black Mascara. (Brown also available) Price: £1.50.

Comments: 10/10 I've given this full marks because it's a £1.50 mascara. It has a brush (not a plastic wand) and because as an everyday mascara I'd be quite happy using this. It's a little product heavy, so I probably would invest in a better mascara for when the occasion calls for it. It's £1.50, don't expect miracles. I was happier with this mascara than I have been with plenty of more expensive products.

OK so until now ELF for a low priced cosmetics range has done OK. A few glitches, but mostly positive. These two items I REALLY hate. With a Passion. So much so I've had them less than 24 hours & I've binned them. I never bin anything, I always make it work even if I use it with another product but ELF, you really scraped the barrel with these products!!!!


ELF Waterproof Eyeliner Pen - I had Purple. There are other colours, but save yourselves the trouble & don't purchase this. Price: £1.50.

Comments: 0/10 Awful. Just awful. I took a swatch & was delighted at first with how vibrant the pigmentation was. Went to draw a second line & if you look closely you will see only half a line on my hand, as it seemed to have dried out. I attempted to use on my eye, it was very 'catchy' on my eyelid, it dragged at the skin and left little to no cover on my lash line. Next I looked at the nib. After drawing three lines (and I was careful with the nib) this had happened:

I'm sorry about the quality of the picture, but basically the nib has bent, it's gone flimsy and now won't draw a solid line... i.e. it doesn't fulfill it's purpose as a liner. It's just awful. On top of that this item claims to be waterproof. So as I put away my product, disappointed enough as it was and reached for a piece of tissue, dipped it in water, 1 wipe and the product was gone. So thats NOT A LINER, NOT A GOOD QUALITY PEN/NIB & NOT WATERPROOF. If you purchase this item you will be disappointed. No, just no ELF.

ELF Essentials Lipstick - I chose Seductive. Is a moisturising Lipstick full of colour. Price: £1.50

Comments - 1/10 This only just beat the eyeliner. It scored one point because it does actually still work. Seductive appears to be a dark pink with undertones of purple/brown on the website. I liked it a lot from the picture. It turned up & it is actually a vibrant Rosy pink, it almost looks red in some lighting. Check out sociable on the website & that is what seductive looks like. OK so I don't do Rosy colours on lips but I thought I could make it work. I swatched it and it is basically a gloss in stick form. It's a sheer rosy colour. It took about four back & forths to get the colour on my hand as deep as it was in the picture above, and it isn't brilliant there. Moisture wise, yes it works, but so does a gloss or a balm. Its very watery/glossy although thankfully not sticky. It creases on your lips the second you apply. It's a nightmare. I would probably use this as a balm or gloss with a proper lipstick. OK so yes it is a cheap product, but I've bought glosses for £0.99 that were better than this. So disappointed in this product, I wanted to love it but it just didn't work at all.

So overall how much did I spend: £74.75
                                With discount: £39.87
Overall ELF score: 8/10
Comments: Overall I was pretty impressed with ELF. For such low price items the quality was a good standard and pretty consistent. There are a few items I would never purchase again as they were dreadful and even at such a low price I'd expect better. There are a few products I will be reserving judgement until I try different colours (i.e. the blush). Equally, there are products I am in love with and will repurchase them at full price it I don't catch them on a sale. I am excited to try some items they didn't have in stock when I made my order such as the HD Powder in translucent, The eye primer and their studio range of lipsticks. 

I did notice that an awful lot of their products are shimmery, which is great for a night out but for the office I don't want to turn up sparkling like Edward. I'm very much alive & not trying to hunt down or marry a hormonal teenager. Sometimes a matt eye shadow & blush are needed and even if you can find a matt on ELF I'd be very surprised if it was in stock. I like ELF products and will continue to purchase them, but my main piece of advise to you all is You are getting what you pay for. It's cheap so don't expect the quality of NARS, MAC, Benefit or Urban Decay.

Product Reviews - the hits & misses of my recent splurge

I am still working on my Wedding Cake blog, I know I said that last time but it's true. It is giving me a headache trying to get it perfect for you all. So to keep myself Blogging I decided to do something different, a product review.

This weekend, having recently been paid and running out of a few essentials I decided to purchase a few items for myself, a huge purchase from ELF and a few other pieces from the interwebs. My ELF order is due any day and I will do a little review for all you bloggers who like your beauty/make-up products but thought I would share my thoughts on the other products I have purchased or acquired. By acquired I mean for given for Christmas or given because someone thought I'd like it more than them. No companies have given me these items. They were either purchased with my money, or the money of friends or family who gave them to me. These opinions are all my own. So, lets crack on!

Fudge Torture Tonic  - Recently my hair has gone really dry, limp, damaged & frizzy. After trying other products to no avail I hit the interweb looking for a product to give my hair some life, and on my travels heard some people raving about the "Fudge" range and decided to give this a go. It is quite expensive at about £7 for 300ml. But I purchased the shampoo & conditioner 500ml each for £15 on amazon, so shop around. I know on www.fragrancedirect.co.uk you can purchase 1000ml for about £12.
 I love this product!  It smells incredibly sweet which I know not everyone will like, but once your hair is dry that sweetness depletes and you are just left with a pleasant but not overpowering scent. Its a mix between a fudge and a cream sort of smell. You don't need a lot of product to do the job. After one use my hair is noticeably more hydrated and nourished. It's completely de-tangled (being frizzy before my hair was getting tangled easily) and smells delish! Not the cheapest on the market but certainly does what it says on the tin! HIT

Jelly Belly Candle in Toasted Marshmallow - I purchased this for £4 & I have to say it was a huge disappointment. This picture makes it look a lot bigger than it is. But it's quite small. You are paying for the Jelly Belly name not the quality of the product. When you open the tin you are hit by a strong sweet scent that smells exactly the same as the jelly beans but once lit the scent was pretty non existent. I'm not a big candle person but as I purchased this for the scent, it really disappointed me that I could only smell that when the candle wasn't lit. It's too expensive for just a candle that any only tea light could function as and I definitely wouldn't repurchase this item. MISS

Eden Apricot Scrub (For face & Body) - Purchased for £3.99 (£1.99 plus £2 shipping) on Amazon this was a steal! It smells of Apricot as it says on the tub and also has a slight nutty scent to it. It doesn't look like much when it arrives but I seriously adore this product! It's not too sweet or overpowering, but it's enough to leave you walking around your family offering up your arms to be felt & smelt. A small amount of product will do your entire body. The tub weighs 227g and I would say this will last you a good 10 applications if not more. I have avoided body exfoliants for some time as I find they can dry out your skin, but this product has left my skin feeling so soft, not at all dry and even my sensitive skin on my face has enjoyed the benefits of this scrub. I highly recommend you try this, definitely going on my repurchase list! HIT

Avon Clearskin Blemish Clearing Concealer - £1.49. I feel like for £1.49 I shouldn't complain but I do not like hate this product. As soon as a took the cap of this I was hit by the most revolting smell ever. It was like a mix of herbs, really old gone off herbs... in your make-up. I applied the concealer to my skin and it was dry at first but seemed to go quite creamy once blended in. However it also seemed to suck the moisture from my skin giving me dry patchy skin. This didn't improve my skin, it gave me blemishes. I love most Avon products but this was a big no no for me. BAD AVON! MISS

Batiste Original Dry Shampoo - You can purchase this in most shops, Superdrug, Tesco, Sainsburys etc. I purchased this in Savers and I think it was £1.40 ish? I am not a huge fan of any other dry shampoo. I find the products leave my hair feeling heavy, limp & leaves a powdery residue. But the Batiste range, especially the original doesn't do this. It is light, has a very light citrus smell, it gives my limp hair a bit of volume & it has become a staple part of my beauty kit. My hair now rather damaged needs a rest from being washed every day and so I use this every other day to give it the break it needs. A must have item! HIT

FCUK Whipped Bodycream - I wanted to love this product so badly but it just didn't happen. I had it as part of a gift set. A small 75ml & a larger 300ml tub. I have no idea how much this costs. It says it has "extracts of orange blossom, pomegranate, shea butter and almond oil". All I can smell is the orange blossom & vanilla. It has a very heavy perfume like smell and feels very plastic/rubber like to the touch. When eventually dried your skin does feel moisturised but I've purchased cheap £1 moisturisers that work as well as this if not better. It takes for ever to dry and even when dry my skin felt tacky and almost greasy for an hour or so after. I will use this entire product up as I don't hate it, but I certainly wouldn't go and purchase this myself. DON'T HATE IT DON'T LOVE IT

Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula - Firming Butter- £4.85 in Boots. I adore this product! First of all it smells good enough to eat, it's heavenly. It feels so creamy and once applied it dries quickly and leaves your skin so incredibly soft. I purchased this when I started my diet about 2 years ago, having now lost 5 stone and having very little excess skin I swear by this product. My stretch marks are less visible and the loose skin is nothing compared to what it would have been if I hadn't used this product. I have repurchased this several times because I love it that much! HIT

Avon Arabian Glow Bronzing Pearls (22g) - Back to Avon products and at £4.99 this product is middle of the range priced. I love this product for a few reasons. This stuff lasts FOREVER. Ok so false advertising there, but it lasts for a very long time. Not too dark but gives a good healthy glow and is easily built for something a bit darker. People have told me that if you crush them they create a better build of colour, but I haven't personally tried this ... let me know if you have & what you thought. HIT

Avon True Colour Duo - Deep Forest - £6. Can't see this particular colour combo in the AVON catalogue any more  but they do have other colours of this same range, and the other colours were on offer in the last catalogue for £4 instead of £6. I have mixed feelings about this. AVON eye-shadows are very good quality with a good colour pay off. Heres the swatch I took for you:

 The darker green has an amazing colour pay-off  it's a gorgeous olive green with a gold shimmer to it. Paired with another green or a brown it would make a gorgeous crease or outer corner colour for a smoky eye. The lighter colour looks like a paler olive colour in the pan, but once you apply it to your skin it becomes chalky and it is lost against the depth of the darker green. £6 for one good (but small) eye-shadow and one not so good eye-shadow isn't worth it in my opinion. It may just be this colour but I haven't tried the other duo's so I'm not sure. HIT & MISS

MUA (Make-Up Academy) Eyeshadow - I had this as a stocking filler not this Christmas but the Christmas before so I'm not sure if you can even still get this particular quad. But MUA eye-shadows are still available and price wise are very reasonable. Their singles are £1, trios are about £3 and their 12 colour palettes are £4. This particular palette is made up of a white/highlighter, a deep royal blue, a shimmery gun metal with a blue tint and a pale baby blue. The swatch of these four:

The pale blue is chalky and requires a lot of application to get the colour from it. The other three colours are amazing! The white provides a good highlight colour, or apply to the inner corner to brighten up the eye. The Royal blue and metallic blue are stunning. Not really every day colours but I was impressed with the quality of such a cheap brand & will be purchasing some more colours/products in the future. Definitely worth a whirl. HIT

Sure - fragrance collection - I think this was £2 in ASDA. Usually a roll on girl as I find spray deodorants too dry for my skin & they leave white marks on my clothes. However after a roll on got a bit sticky I was put off and I decided to try out a spray for a change. I had the Flowers & Apricots scent. It is a very floral smell but I didn't pick up the apricot scent at all. Pleasant though. It wasn't at all dry or powdery and left no marks or residues on my clothes. Does what it says on the tin. I was  impressed and will definitely repurchase this product. Says it provides 48hr protection, which I wasn't prepared to test to be honest, but it definitely provided all day protection, which is all I expect! HIT

Dove Go Fresh - Pomegranate & Lemon - I had this for Christmas in a dove gift sent with bath oils & moisturisers (which I haven't yet tried). I looked up the price of the deodorant for you though and apparently it is £2.89. The smell on this is the most amazing thing ever, and if they turn it in to a perfume I will be purchasing that for sure. Its sweet, but not too sweet. The lemon provides a much needed freshness to it. However it is so dry. As I sprayed this on my underarms a white dust covered my arm & my bedroom carpet! It left my skin feeling very dried out. It says on the tin it provides 48hr protection, but within 3hrs I felt like I needed to reapply some form of deodorant  I work in an office... sitting down... I don't do hard labour so I never feel like I need to "freshen up"but this product just doesn't work for me. I love the Dove smells on all of their products, but unfortunately their products suck the moisture out of my skin. It's disappointing, but I will be sticking with my sure deodorant which doesn't smell half as nice but works 10 times better. Sorry Dove! MISS

Well I hope you enjoyed my little product review. I am still working on the wedding cake blog so that should be up in the next few days and once I receive my ELF products I will do a few reviews on those for you.

Thanks for reading guys! xxx