i am the elf

Mini ELF Haul

noreply@blogger.com (i-am-the-elf) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:55:00 +0000

Evening internet!

Kind of long time, no see! Sorry I haven't posted in the last couple of days I've just been so busy with my.. er... packed social life..? Anyway, I as you may have noticed my last ELF haul was only a week or so ago so I admit it's a bit cheeky of me to be back again with another so soon! My excuse? Some products I've been waiting on for a while finally came back in stock...

Matte Finisher Nail Polish - £1.00 [Sale]

Nail Polish in Innocent - £1.50

(Sorry this is such a bad picture...)

Got the Innocent shade on my nails right now and it's a really neutral and easy colour to wear. Has chipped a bit but only because I always pick (eekk...). The matte finisher is a true pro at it's job, and gives nail polish and amazing matte finish (I even put it over the Deborah Lippmann razzle dazzle and it worked!) however I'm not a huge fan of the effect so I'm not going to be wearing it that often.

Zit Zapper - £1.50

Eyebrow Stencils - £1.50

These were the two products I was most anticipating from this order! I heard voussontbeauetbelle talking about the zit zapper on her channel and how great it was, and since I have pretty bad skin I thought I'd give it a go. I have used it overnight a couple of times and had some pretty good results, but they didn't last. Full review at a later date. As for the eyebrow stencils (you can just about see the 4 shapes you get in the picture) I haven't tried them, but I'll let you know how it goes.

Blending Eye Brush - £1.50

Nourishing Cuticle Pen - £1.50
I've already used the blending eye brush a couple of times and really like it, but when I spot cleaned the brush (with the elf daily brush cleaner) looadddsss of the hairs fell out. But for £1.50, can I complain? Now for the cuticle pen: I bought this as neglecting my nail care is one of my bad beauty habits to break this month. I used it as soon as I got it, and to be honest I can't see any differences so far! Again, I'll give you a review on it after I've properly tried it out.

There we have it! I was very impressed by the speedy delivery with this order, as I placed the order in the evening on Tuesday and it arrived late morning on Thursday.

What do you think of Elf?

What are your must have Elf products?

Cheers,

p.s. if you're in England you can get free delivery on your ELF (eyeslipsface.com) order by entering the code: BIRTHDAYBARONUK at checkout before 9:30am on Mon 16th 2012!

Bad Beauty Habits to break

noreply@blogger.com (i-am-the-elf) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:06:00 +0000

Afternoon all!

As you can probably tell by the title of this post, today I'm going to be talking about some bad beauty habits that I want to break (some of them are more 'beauty resoultions'). The best result would be that I kick all these bad habits for good, but for now at least, I'm giving myself 1 month to clean up my act...

1) Washing my face regularly

You're going to think this is gross, but I'm really bad at washing my face morning and night with facewash. I currently use rub in cleansing lotion, but I never feel as clean if I only do that, so my goal is to get washing!

2) Touching my face all the time

Pretty self-explanatory. Hands pick up a lot of bacteria. I put my hands on my face many, many times a day. This = bacteria on my face.

3) Picking Spots

Just yesterday I was sat in front of the mirror trying to cover up a lovely red spot that's former on my forehead, and I ended up picking a bit off (ughhrg) and making it look even worse than it already did. Plus, it's not that hygienic. So no more picking.

4) Use Spot Treatments

I haven't yet found my holy-grail spot zapper, but I have got some that work pretty well.That in mind, I mean to use them every night but... I usually forget a wake up with spots the same as yesterday, sigh.

5) More water, less chocolate

Ask you can probably tell now, I'm really pushing to get my skin-care revamp resolution going! So my next habit/goal is to eat less chocolate (causes spots) and drink more water (prevents - kind of - spots).

6) Not looking after nails

My nails never seem to be looking good! They've either got dirt in them, chipped nail varnish, un-filed edges, messed up cuticles... I could go on. So this month I'm going to file, buff, polish, and generally take care of my nails every day.

7) Not keeping to hair washing schedule

Yes, I have a hair washing schedule, and yep, that does makes me sound insane. I plan to wash my hair every other day, but that plan isn't always 100% effective. So this month I want to keep to my routine without fail .... (which leads me onto next point)

8) Heat Protectant + Deep Condition hair once a week

I use quite a lot of heat on my hair, which is bad I know but.... what can a girl do? To at least do some good, I need to use high-quality heat protectant every time I use heat stylers and deep condition my hair once a week.

9) Go to bed on time

Going to bed late will make me a. insanely tired and since I have to get up at 6 everyday, that ain't a good thing, or b. look like a panda. Or both. So going to bed on time should have benefits all round!

10) Not buy so many products!

I'm one of those girls who just can't stop spending....

This time next month I'll check back in and tell you how I did!

What bad beauty habits do you want to break?

Cheers,

JUST IN: MAC & LUSH

noreply@blogger.com (i-am-the-elf) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 22:51:00 +0000

Hello Again!

Just a super quick post to show you three things that I JUST got that I'm looking forward to using...

Mac Eye Shadow in Girlie - £6.50

[Originally £11.50]

Say hello to my first ever mac product! I wouldn't usually purchase from Mac as it's a little expensive for my budget beauty, but on buyapowa.com I got it for just £6.50 (http://www.buyapowa.com/deal/222) Buyapowa is a site that offers amazing discounts on all sorts of products as they buy in bulk direct from the manufacturers. Totally legit, totally amazing.

Think Pink Bath Ballistic - £2.45

So I've never used a lush product before (I know, shocker!) as the branch in my town centre is always WAY too busy to get into, so I stay away. But for once I managed to catch it on a quite day and true to form the staff were lovely . So, I got this bath bomb (which I'll be honest, I only bought because it was pretty)...

Space Girl Bath Ballistic - £1.95

...and this one! The girl in the shop said it was one of her favourites, and since it was glittery I knew it was for me, can't wait to use it to calm my Monday blues. But I have a question, how do I use these? Do I pop them in whole while the bath is running? Do I break it up? Do I use it instead of bubble bath?
Arghh I'm a proper beginner!

What are your favourite Mac & Lush products?

Cheers,

Funny Christmas Gifts

noreply@blogger.com (i-am-the-elf) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:45:00 +0000

Hi there internet, Want to see a funny picture?

Yes! Those are a few of my christmas presents that I thought deserved a mention!
I know it's waaayy to late to be posting about Christmas now, but never mind. Ever the optimist, I've decided to pick out and share some funny/cute gifts I got from Santa in 2011. (Obvs I'm not showing all my gifts because...well.. most of them have been eaten/are personal)

Buzz Lightyear Shower Gel

I know this is what you wondering about! So no, my friend didn't gift me a Buzz Lightyear doll (although I wouldn't have objected). It's shower gel and although I'm already committed to Rituals Shower Gel, this is absolutely fab. A great thing about this is when this gel runs out you can just transfer any other gel to the holder. (And a little birdy told me it's from Superdrug if you want to get your hands on it!)

Penguin Hand Warmer

I got this as a stocking filler and I absolutely love it. The first time you use it you just snap the mini disk inside then the little hot water bottle heats up, solidifies and gets very, very hot. You can actually tuck the hot water bottle thing completely, it doesn't stick out like in this photo. After first use, you wrap the water bottle in a j-cloth type thing and put it in boiling water from 10-15mins. The heat even lasts for about 30mins! (...And a Birdy told me it was from Pod)

Matching Notebook & Address Book

Another two stocking fillers here; the pink is an address book and the other is just a plain notebook. They've both got this lovely silky feeling material covers and I believe the paper is made of coffee beans.. or something along those lines...

Inbetweeners Movie, Harry Potter + Deathly Hallows Pt.2, 500 Days of Summer & Black Swan DVDs

We all love a good movie, including me, and I'd recommend these four any time of the year. I won't go through them all thoroughly now, but I can simply say they're all great fun (or just good movies, I might not use the word 'fun' for Black Swan).

Send a Cow

Again, a stocking filler here, but a really thoughtful one! Santa sent a flock (what is a group of chickens called again? I'm sure that's not right aha) of chickens to someone in Africa on my behalf, and you get a little booklet of information about the help you're giving as well. It also comes with a little cow that has seeds in that I'm going to plant when the weather is nicer!

So there we go! Maybe you can keep these fun little stocking stuffers in mind for next year?

Not sure I want to think about how far away that is... :(

So what was your funniest christmas present?

Cheers,

ELF - Haul & Review

noreply@blogger.com (i-am-the-elf) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:20:00 +0000

Afternoon internet!

I think it's time to address the elephant in the room. Or well, the elephant in the url. It's pretty obvious my real name is not elf (the more you know!), but if you want to know why I'm called elf you're about to find out.

E.L.F

Yep. I'm in love with ELF (eyeslipsface.co.uk) Cosmetics! Ok, maybe in love is perhaps an overstatement. I just really enjoy their cheap products at amazing prices. That it mind, today I have a haul and mini-review of my newest elf order. Everything I bought was under £4, insane! So let's get into it:

EYES

Cream Eyeliner in Gunmetal (Brush included) - £2.45 [Sale]

It seems a bit of a waste of packaging for such a small product, but now I've used it I get you don't need a massive pot. In fact, you barely need any product to create a soft yet defining line on the eyelid. So far so good for a quick fix, however I'm finding it hard to blend with shadows.

Matte Eyeshadow in Nude (Brush included) - £3.50

Again I was slightly surprised by the packaging here, and when I opened it I was equally surprised with how messy the box already was. Despite that, I've really enjoyed using this eyeshadow. The colour (nude) is a really nice shade for lightening the eye area, and it's so soft and natural that I'll be using it for my everyday school look.

Waterproof Eyeliner pencil in Black - £1.50

This is the one of, if not the best, eyeliner I think I've ever used. Now I'm very picky about most eyeliners (excluding cream eyeliners) as I feel they tend to close up and hood my eyes rather than define them. It's usually too much of a harsh line for me to wear everyday. However, the applicator allows you to draw on such a fine a line that it actually works to my taste! And again, amazing value.

Eyelid Primer in Pearl - £1.50

I've always been doubtful if Primers are really necessary, but either way, I love this little potion. I actually ordered a different shade but in true elf fashion they sent me this one, although it still works a treat. The applicator here isn't the best but I blend it with my finger anyway. Definitely re-purchasing.

48pc Pro Mini Eyeshadow Palette in Warm - £3.75 [Sale]

If you can get through the initial obnoxious packaging, this palette is a god send. I'm not one for wearing party colours everyday of the week, so the colours in this are perfect for creating natural and wearable looks for me (that also include sparkle eek!). The brush included is not one I'd like to use, but the palette all together is pretty compact and I'll definitely be able to take it on holiday etc. My only quibble is that one of the shades (3rd row down on the far left) is not stuck down. If anyone's interested in a further look at this palette with swatches etc I'll be more than happy to make a more in depth review!

6pc Eyeshadow Set in Natural - £1.75 [Sale]

This is my new go-to palette. You can create a natural shine, a smoky eye, a shimmery party - so many possibilities with juts 6 colours. There isn't much else to say about this apart from that you need in this palette in your life. It's a bargain for what you get and I'll be purchasing other variations of colour soon.

LIPS

Matte Lip Colour in Tea Rose - £3.50 [Sale]

This is one of the best purchases I made. The tube itself isn't particularly robust and already the print on the tube is completely rubbed off.. not that that matters. Sorry I haven't got a swatch or anything here, you'll just have to trust me on what a great shade this is. It stays on for a long time and it is really easy to apply. Again, I'll definitely re-purchase in more shades.

FACE

Tone Correcting Concealer in Ivory - £1.50

My new go-to. Really blends to my skin tone well and covers up both under eye circles and spots fantastically. Not great if you only want a really small amount of product, but you can fix that by using it in conjunction with concealer brush. I've been carrying this around with me everywhere!

Corrective Concealer - £3.50

I bought this after seeing many gurus raving about it, but I'm sorry to say I'm a bit disappointed. Neither of the concealing colours blend with my skin tone very well and the correcting shades don't seem to work with me either. But I'm not going to give up on the idea of correcting shades yet...

Pressed Clarifying Power in Light Beige - £1.50

The first couple of days after the order arrived, I found myself using this obsessively (with a stipple brush as the puff included is fairly pathetic). But in hindsight I can't help but thinking that was a bad move, and it only seems to give my skin the a bit of a 'I didn't wash my face this morning' look, not good. I might order in a lighter shade to see how it works.

TOOLS

Studio Stipple Brush - £3.50

I really like this brush. I don't love it, but I do give it credit. Prior to buying this brush I'd seen a bunch of gurus using and raving about this brush, so I HAD to check it out. However, the reason I'm not smitten with this brush is simple; I don't actually use products that require stippling (is that even a word?!) on a regular basis. That said, when I did use it, it really applied the product well and retains it's original shape (but not colour) after washing.

Concealer Brush - £1.50

Sorry I couldn't get a close up of the brush itself here, but you can just about see how fine the bristles are in this picture. Basically, I love this brush! It's perfect for it's job and amazing value. It helps to work in both liquid and 'solid'(I've not a clue what the proper word is) concealers effectively. Plus, it pops in my carry around bag really easily

Eye Shadow Brush - £1.50

This brush is a job well done. It doesn't stand out as one of the best eye shadow brushes in the world as it's not as soft and the bristles aren't as long as I'd like, but all the same it's pretty bog standard good.

Daily Brush Cleaser - £2.45 [Sale]

Sleek packaging and impressive, quick results. I want the shampoo too!

All together my order totaled £33.40, and postage was free! The sale is still adding new items and shipping for orders over £30 is free, how good is that?

What's your favourite Elf product?

Cheers,

2012 Wishilst

noreply@blogger.com (i-am-the-elf) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:29:00 +0000

Hello again world of the interweb!

Time for another new years post. So this maaayyy be a bit of a contradiction to my last post, as my first resolution was the save money rather than spend, but I've decided to make a list of the 10 items that I would like the purchase in the year of 2012...

1. Naked Palette

Yep.. I'm really that behind. I still don't have the legendary Naked Palette from Urban Decay. In the UK it cost £35 (avaliable in Debenhams and House of Fraser), which it pretty pricy for a stingy little buyer like me! That said the reviews on this (and Naked2 Palette) have been more than complimentary, so I'm looking forward to trying it out.

2. Festival Rucksack

I'm just going to come out with it; I'm a MASSIVE festival freak. I just love those endless nights of sleeping on hard mats and staying up until daylight and living off pizza and chips...if you've never been to a festival you've never lived! I'm not sure which festivals I'll be going to this year but whichever they are, I'm definitely going to need a properly nice bag this year. (This one is currently £22 from Accesorize).

3. Nail Polish Dryer

Ever since I was about 8 and I went to my best friends house and tried one of these out, I've been dying to get one. One of the reasons I barely wear coloured polish is because I'm so impatient at waiting for them to dry, and mess them up almost immediately. With one of these I would be away!

4. More Simple Products

Towards the end of 2011 I started to use Simple, and I've never been more impressed or saved by their kind to skin purifying cleansing lotion! The other day I also got my hands on a set of their haircare products and I loooveeee them, so this year I'm definitely going to be expanding my collection.

5. Proffesional Electrical Hair Gear

When I say proffesional, I just mean a replacment for the current pieces of rubbish I use. Seriously, they're pretty embarrassing... I use my mum's old Boot's own Hairdryer from when she was a student. It's still surprising reliable despite the fact the plug has been picked apart countless times. And then my straightener.. my mum's friend gave it me second hand from her daughter when I was about 10 or something... I guess because I barely ever use heat stylers so I've never bothered to replace them!

6. Jewelry Collection

So far in my humble little life I haven't been massive on wearing jewelry but this year I'm going to try and collect some more exciting jewelry in order to jazz up my wardrobe (and find a way to store it effectively...)

7. A calendar I love

This of course one of the things I want sooner rather than later.. but I always have problems finding a calendar the right size and with the right pictures (I'm very particular). However I never usually start shopping until January anyway partly because I'm admittedly disorganized, but also partly because the prices are amazing

8. MAC Eyeshadows

I think this one is maybe cheating since I already kinda ordered one off buyapowa... Oh well! I don't currently only any MAC products, but something I've always wanted from them is eyeshadows. I don't know why, but the thought of them always send me in excitment!

9. 2 GCSEs

I'm finishing two of my gcse courses this year, scary stuff eeeekkk (the rest next year)! So it's on my wishlist to possess them both by the end of 2012, although I'll have the results in August. Ideally, I'd like A's in both of them and looks like I'm on course to get them both, so it's hard work from now on, right? (no...)

10. Soap & Glory

Every time I go into Boots I literally feel as if these products are shouting at me to buy them, and one day this year I am going to make a point to! I've seen so many gurus raving about this stuff I can't count, so it's on my must haves (I'm currently holding out for a 'dream' deal...)

(Sorry for the really bad spacing in this post.. blogger wasn't co-operating!)
So, what's on your wishlist this year?

Cheers,

2012 Goals

noreply@blogger.com (i-am-the-elf) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:00:00 +0000

Aloha internet!

..and happy new year! With this new year, as with every new year, there has been a universal surge of hope and determination to better ourselves and make this year the best yet. So who am I to contradict? The following are my goals for 2012:

1) Save
I'm going to try and save rather spend my money this year. And I'm fully aware that is way easier said than done. So, instead of just seeing the money roll in and rolling it straight out again, I'm going to promise myself that I'll put away at least 10% (starting off small) each week into my savings, and not take it out until I really need it.
Measured goal = Have enough ££ to properly treat both my parents this year

2) Re-vamp Skincare
Guys... I'm so bad to my skin. I'm always forgetting to exfoliate, to protect, to cleanse, to remove makeup properly.. the list goes on. As a result, my skin isn't looking too good. Obviously there's only so much I can do as I'm still a spotty little teenager (ooer), but I'm looking forward to seeing the results of looking after my skin as it deserves.
Measured goal = Wash my face morning and night 365 days a year

3) Re-vamp Haircare
And again, you're going to hear about what a slob I am aha. My hair is currently the bane of my existence. I've got medium length, dry, curly hair that is extremely prone to frizz, and I have still yet to find a way to embrace my curls. Therefore this year I'm looking to find my niche. I'm going to stop excessively heat styling my hair and learn to love and care for the hair I've got.
Measured goal = I'll compare picture of my hair now to a picture in December to see!

4) Get Fit
The most common new years resolution of all it to loose weight, and we all know why. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. So let's get straight into my POA (plan of action):
a. Eat right. I know I have the ability to change what I eat for the better. For as long as I can remember I've had a very deep and loving relationship with chocolate, cake, pizza, nandos and all my other fatty friends. But starting from right this moment I'm breaking that relationship off. Sure, I bet I'll be longing for them in a couple of hours, but I have to prove to myself for once that I can do it. It will be worth it.
Measured goal = Eat at least 3 portions of fruit/veg every day

b. Exercise. I already cycle every morning for 45minutes doing my paper-round, but this year I'm stepping things up. I'm already a member at a gym, so in about a weeks time, I've got a meeting booked with an instructor who's going to set me up a routine and plan for the gym that I can use in the next couple of months. On top of that I've decided to buy 'Just Dance 3' for the Wii, which is a game I've tried and tested and LOVE! That's how I put fun into exercise.
Measured goal = At least 1 'Just Dance 3' Dance a day & At least 1 trip to the gym a week

Thank you for reading!
What are your new years resolutions?

Cheers,

New year, new me?

noreply@blogger.com (i-am-the-elf) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 13:41:00 +0000

Good morning, and happy new year people of the internet!

My name is Elf (well, er, not really). I'm 16, and hopefully this marks a new era in my fuddy duddy country life. I'm born and bread in England, and unlike many, I don't object too much to the atrocious weather here. My interests lie in creativity and arts, although if I'm honest my 'true' strengths seem to swerve towards academia. Which, in part, is a reason I've started this blog! I want to concentrate on expanding my creative thinking and of course at the same time, looking a tad better :)

So what does any of this mean?! What is my blog going to be about?!
Well, surprise, surprise, I'm going to be a beauty blogger. I'm fully aware the current beauty community is tad busy, but hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! I've loved beauty blogs and youtube gurus for a couple of years now, and I have to admit I find myself so easily watching endlessly on youtube, pouring indefinitely over countless blog reviews and surfing the web almost constantly for new items. I just love it.

So back to the blog. I'm going to be doing all the usual exciting stuff; hauls, reviews, make-up storage tips, DIY, hair care, tutorials, and fitness blogs. (more about the last one coming up, my goal to 2012 is to get moving again!) Depending on how I find it, I'm going to be posting 4 days a week.

And there we have it, my first post.

Hope it wasn't too rambly,

Cheers love, (can I put that in? I feel a bit country)

Hola!

noreply@blogger.com (i-am-the-elf) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 08:15:00 +0000

Hi there! I'm Elf.

It's nice to see you, but just to let you know I'm only going to start posting on 1st January 2012, so you'll have to hold on for a little bit. If you want to be looooveeelly you could follow me now? Or maybe that's a tall order. See you soon anyhow :)