REVIEW & SWATCHES: Elf HD Blushes !

I recently ordered these from eyeslipsface.com. When I saw these -- I had to have them. I believe blush is my favorite makeup item - I have wayyy too many! :( But I used a 50% off coupon code so I could purchase every color of these to swatch & review for you guys! :)

These are available on: eyeslipsface.com & they are $3.00 each.

Here's the description on Elf's website:

"Rich and creamy HD Blush naturally sculpts and highlights the cheekbones for a soft-focus effect that is great for everyday use. The Vitamin E enriched formula conditions and hydrates the skin for a healthy, radiant glow. Velvety soft, lightweight and highly pigmented color creates a long-lasting result for all day wear."

First off I'll start out by saying that these are VERY VERY pigmented. You need just a teeny tiny drop of this product - and that goes a long way. The bottles are actually smaller than I thought they'd be -- but it's still a lot of product for only $3.00 and since a little does go along way - it'll last you a long time. As you can tell in some of the pictures -- some of the blushes are more 'watered' down than others. Some people who have done previous reviews on this product complained about this - but I find it to be a good thing. It makes it easier to blend out and into the skin. I also have found that these stain a bit. But once again -- a good thing if you're wanting a lasting blush.

I personally love these blushes and find that they are a great price at $3.00 -- even though I got mine for $1.50 :P I totally recommend these blushes. I also can't wait to use the darkest one Showstopper during winter :D It'll look pretty against my very pale skin blended out well I think ;)

REVIEW: Hard Candy Take It Off Makeup Remover

I've been meaning to do a review on this product for a couple of months now & just have put it off due to being busy & laziness. Anyway, I purchased this product back in like March -- I think? I got it for my kit to use for like prom makeup in case I needed to remove some makeup. Back in June I was looking through my makeup kit and realized I haven't really used this so I took it out and oh my gaaawwddd -- why did I put this away?! This product is AMAZING! 

I use this to remove my eye makeup mainly. I use a cleanser for my face. But this gets off gel liner, waterproof eyeliner/mascara, and glitter! It gets off everything. I love it! 

I've been looking for a good makeup remover after running out of my Lancome eye remover (I can't remember the name of it because it was all fancy and spelled funny :P). I first bought the L'oreal eye makeup remover that is blue and it SUCKS! It just moved your makeup down all over your face and didn't take it off. So I picked up this one because it was new at the time that I purchased it. This was only $5.00 at Wal-Mart. 

This removes everything -- doesn't just move the unwanted makeup around on your face -- it takes it off. This is like a lotion remover which at first I thought would be weird since I'm used to liquid. But it works really well. I put a dab onto a cotton round & smear it with my finger then remove my eye makeup. 

They also have this product in wipe form! I haven't tried those yet because I think you get way more uses out of the lotion tube more-so than 25 or however many wipes you get.

I highly recommend this product. It works great and it's inexpensive!

How to Depot Your Lipsticks - Making a Lipstick Palette

I am starting on the lip section of my professional makeup kit and figured I'd share how I do so with you all :) 

Here's all the items you'll need:

 Lipsticks

Empty Palette

Tin Pans

Labels

Knife

Spatula (optional)

 Firstly, you're going to need to take the sticker labels and make a label of each lipstick and place them on the bottom of the pans. I personally put the brand, name, and the finish of the lipstick.

Next, open the lipstick and twist it up about half way. Then take the knife and just chop of the first hunk of lipstick into one of the tin pans.

You'll need to chop the piece of lipstick in your tin pan up in multiple different chunks. Then flatten out the chunks with your spatula or knife.

Then you have your cute little artsy lip palette! :)

I have a rather small one because I can't carry too many big palettes in my kit - I already have 4 big ones - so I am just going to have 2 small lip palettes to fit. They have many different types of magnetic palettes. The most popular is the Z Palette - which I have 2 of - but I recently found these palettes for cheaper. You can get the palette as well as the tin pans on EBay. My pans are 26mm - the size of a Mac eyeshadow.

* Be sure to get tin pans because they are already magnetized! If you get aluminum you will have to get magnet stickers to place on the bottom of each pan.

Extra tips on getting a perfect looking palette: 

• You can make these perfect looking by baking them in the oven on low heat for a couple of minutes. However, doing this may slightly change the actual color of the product.
• You could also leave them sitting out in front of a window in the sun to melt them nicely.

I personally didn't do either of those because I like the artsy look of my messy palette :) Hope this helps anyone who is starting a kit or just wanting to save some space in their makeup bag!

I Started Makeup School & Other Exciting News!

I've had my package since last Wednesday -- and received my final package today, so I decided today would be a good day to start! At the moment, I don't have a DVD remote for my DVD player, so I can't skip down to the next video on the disc :( And my netbook doesn't have a CD-Rom thingy -- so I can't watch it on my computer! Haha, so I have to go and watch my videos at my sister's house. But I have been reading my first booklet, and it's very helpful about helping you pick out  what part of makeup artistry you want to get into. I really like it so far! Here's a couple of pictures of my booklets I am reading now & the 'kit' I got from school.

I got a bunch of different booklets - there are like 3 in each unit (& they're are 6 units). All that I got from the school for my kit is a 21 piece makeup brush set -- which is rather cheap. The eye brushes are decent -- but I'll have to buy separate face brushes which I planned on doing anyway. I got a concealer wheel - which I haven't used yet - but it looks very pigmented & creamy. Nice quality ;) Then I got the org. 88 palette like from Coastal Scents (& I already own one that I got off EBay) and the 10 blusher palette. 

Yay! I'm really excited to start doing my own freelance work!

Oh! I know this is kind of off topic - but I'm really excited about it and don't really want to post just one entry about it :P Lazy Lauren!

Anyway, I am going to be creating TONS of new items for my Thirtyonewest cosmetics line! I'm having a sale in our Etsy shop (www.thirtyonewest.etsy.com) - everything is 50% off so I can use that money to go towards creating new things! My vintage stuff is over piling in my house and is beginning to look like a hoarder's house -- no shit. Really does :/ So I'm just going to get rid of it all & mainly focus on creating new, great cosmetic products & start working on jewelry again. I may continue to do vintage items in the future -- but it's gotta go at the moment. Too much at once! 

But once I get some money, I plan to make pressed (yes, PRESSED!) bronzers, blushers, highlighters, etc. I want to kind of design them like Mac Skinfinishes! I'm also going to make Whipped Lip Scrubs - which is a scrub that will help remove the dead skin off your lips to make them look nicer & feel softer - but once you lick the extra sugar off your lips - it'll be a moisturizing balm! :D Also I want to start making lipsticks! Wooo, so many things & soo little money $$ :(

Haha, anyway - sorry I'm blabbing, just really happy at the moment. But it would mean a lot if you all would go and purchase a few things from my shop ;)

REVIEW: Thirtyonewest Eyeshadows & Blushes

I have added a whole ton of new stuff to my cosmetics line since the last post I did about my Thirtyonewest cosmetics. I have a total of 19 eyeshadows now & 5 blushes (soon to be 7 - I've just been lazy and haven't uploaded the other 2 yet!).  I wanted to show you a few photos of some of my new eyeshadows & blushes - as well as a few ways on how to wear them!

First up - I have a mini Fall collection - which includes: Naked Study, Cranberry Sauce, and Pumpkin Spice!
Here are the swatches of those colors:

^ Naked Study ^

 ^ Pumpkin Spice ^

 ^ Cranberry Sauce ^

I really really love these colors - and i'm not just saying that because I made them lol. When I wear these, I will wear Naked Study in the inner corner of my eyelid & either Pumpkin Spice or Cranberry Sauce on the outer edge of my eye! You could actually wear all three at the same time - like Naked Study in the tear duct part of the eye (inner corner <- my definition), Pumpkin Spice in the middle of the eyelid, and Cranberry Sauce on the outer corner of the eye.

These colors look great for fall, and will go with a lot. I actually wore my Cranberry Sauce when I was picking up a few things from Mac Cosmetics - and the makeup artist there complimented my eyeshadow! I wanted to be like, 'Oh, thanks. I made it myself!' - but I didn't want to sound cocky or conceded. :P haha. So I just said thanks :)

Another color I really like to mix - or I should say - wear with Cranberry Sauce is Two of Hearts. Two of Hearts is a bright pinkish red color. It's a really unique color - and I love it! I like to wear this color on my cheeks as well - and yes, I did a blush of this as well! The only difference between the blush & the eyeshadow is that the blush has 3 more ingredients in it than the eyeshadow. I added Kaolin Clay, Silica, & Kosher Rice Powder to the blushes.

Here's Two of Hearts :

I also have 2 more eyeshadows that I have converted to blushes as well which are: Babydoll & Queen Bee.

Queen Bee is a pastel peachy orange color. I normally do not wear peachy/orange coral colored blushes - but I do wear this one! I love the color of this one - it reminds me of creamsicles.

Babydoll is one of my new  favorite blushes! It's of course - a babydoll pink color. It's very shimmery as well - so it can be worn as a highlight too! I wear this one mostly everyday that I do wear blush. My friend purchased one of these from me, and she loved it ! Here's what she said:

 Yayyy!! I marked out her last name for privacy reasons :)

She also purchased the Birthday Suit blush:

 This is a very nude shimmery blush. This can also be worn as a finishing powder if you have a beige colored skin tone. I know this because my friend (the one in the text above) is the one who wears it like that. She told me she wears it as a finish & wears Babydoll on her cheeks.

I have a ton of more products that I need to review that are new - but I just do not have time to do it all! :(
So I will just be posting pictures of all the others - and if you'd like me to review them in the future - please let me know & I will gladly do so! :) I will probably end up doing tutorials with these shadows as well in the future anyway.

This really has nothing to do with reviewing my products - but I am currently working on moving my cosmetics to my own Big Cartel site :D I just feel like it will do better if I move them away from my vintage/handmade items because I feel like my Etsy is cluttered with randomness and I hate it. So I'm currently getting someone to design me a banner for my new site & what not, and hopefully here shortly, I will have my own site for my cosmetics :)

Here are some other new eyeshadows I've created:

 ^ Hocus Pocus ^

Swatch:

 ^ Silver Lining ^

Swatch:

& my other blushes :

 ^ Bubblegum Thief ^

^ Pink Dust ^

* Pink Dust is more of a highlighter than a blush. It's very shimmery/glittery & has a pinky coral tint to it. 

I hope you enjoy all of these new products! :) I haven't listed all of my blushes in my shop yet - so if you're interested in a product that I do not have listed, just shoot me an e-mail or comment below & let me know! :)