Elf review: Luscious Liquid Lipstick

Yet another review on a product by eyeslipsface.co.uk-
this time, it's about their Luscious Liquid lipstick in shade Baby Lips.

Just to clear things out straight from the beginning: this is not a liquid lipstick, as the name suggests. More like a sheer lipgloss, which is to be expected from Elf. Still, it's my favourite among the Elf lipglosses I've tried so far! Read on to see why:

     Pros:
* it doesn't feel sticky on the lips
* has a sponge applicator that is soaked with the product once you twist
  the bottom, which "hugs" the lips better than sponge/brush wands!
* gives a subtle minty scent and a tiny tingling on the lips- which I love!

     Cons:
* there's only 1.5ml of product, though not a big turn-off for the price
* on its own, it applies sheer on the lips
* the sponge applicator gets messy and dirty pretty easily,
  but TBO you'll use up the whole thing before it gets too nasty ;)

Compared to its cousin Hypershine Gloss, the Luscious Liquid lipstick wins fair and square: the scent of the Hypershine lipgloss is much stronger (so more likely to cause you a headache, really!), plus its brush applicator collects the product up on the bristles where they bind with the plastic tube, not on the bristles' ends.

In the end, would I recommend this product?
Definitely! But only to those who like to layer a sheer, non-sticky wash of lipgloss on top of lipsticks, IMO this Luscious Liquid lipstick can't be worn on its own.

This is how much I love it: already bought a back-up!
Which I never do with makeup products :/

Note: most (if not all) lipglosses that Elf has to offer are not sticky and swatch pretty sheer, so the only thing that sets Luscious Liquid lipstick apart from the rest is its sponge applicator; for reference the lipgloss by Clarins Nic from Pixiwoo raves about has the same sponge applicator ;)

So, have you tried any Luscious Liquid lipsticks?
Which is your favourite lipgloss Elf makes?

Evi   xx

Winners of Garnier BB cream giveaway!

Hi lovelies!
Apologies for the delay of uploading this post-
though better late than ever, right?

Soooo without further ado,
the lucky ladies that will receive a Garnier BB cream are...

Ντινάκι
SophiaPeaches
MenI
Stavrolino
mariza

Congratulations girls, I'm so happy for you!!!

   There were 48 valid entries out of 53; I used randomizer.org to draw
   five random numbers. The latter represent the 1st, 19th, etc.
   valid entries, starting count from the top.

Thank you all for taking the time to enter this giveaway!
There's gonna be lots more in the near future- so if you didn't win anything this time, you'll have another chance really soon ;)

Evi   xx

What's in my bag?

'Twas about time I started uploading some tags I've been meaning to write down for the longest time ever!
I can be such a bad blogger sometimes, naughty Evi ;)

I'm starting with the ever so popular "What's in my bag?" tag-
though to be honest, you won't find anything exciting in my post-
read on...

So, the handbag I'm currently carrying around is this faux-leather satchel that I bought from H&M back in October for 30E. Now to put it bluntly,
I can't stand the looks of this thing!

See, when I first saw it I thought "haaaay, a Mulberry Alexa dupe for cheap? Bring it on!!!", then all through winter it was on every-freakin'-display in all H&M stores across Athens and well, it didn't take me much time to get over the initial thrill... But hey ho, that's the one I have ATM so it'll have to make do for this post :/

Inside my bag:

I always carry with me: tissues and wet wipes cause they're always handy and I'm a germ freak, a lighter for emergencies when I have to lend it to a cute stranger (never happens!), painkillers for the odd headache, my Ray-Bans (inside the case) and a white Wayfarer dupe from H&M, my humungous wallet from Zara that always sets off the anti-theft alarms when I walk into an Inditex store (FML...), the H&M nail polish I'm currently wearing (trying to fix my habit of chipped nails the easy way), a random Mac lipstick- this time it's Hue, a pressed powder for touch-ups throughout the day, memory sticks, my keys (notice the mini cooking whisk? aww...), my ancient cell phone that still goes strong, and a pen by Parker.

Not to mention the loads of receipts that nestle themselves deep inside the corners of the bag, the all-present Hondos Center plastic bag from my latest shopping spree and the numerous mint chewing gums- but such clutter wouldn't be too neat to snap it in a pic...

Hope you found it enjoyable? fun to read? sth along this line ;)
Thank you Irene for tagging me! Mwah xx
Feel free to do this tag or leave me your links if you've done it already!

Evi   xx

December 2011 in pictures

   What the heck, for once I'll start a post with my mug ;)
   Oh, by the way: Picnik rules!!!

   Wakey-wakey, sleepy face...

   I love every small piece of greenery in Athens,
   even if it's verging to non-existent like this one... 

   Saturday morning. Out for a coffee at Athens' hippest coffe shop ATM,
   Tailor Made

   I did take more pics of its amazing interior, but there was this fat
   guy dominating every shot (no offence to anyone, though).
   So there you go, a view of the amazing stools made of old
   patchwork rugs! How cool is that?

   I ordered a herbal blend of berries and grape, so tasty!

   Forced the boyf to add brown sugar to his latte, as I did...

   If anything, it's healthier than plain white sugar! Right?

   Kostis, looking absolutely knackered and lounging at Pull&Bear...

   Heading to dad's hometown to spend our Christmas holidays!

   Love these pics of beautiful gloomy skies- which in my case,
   they always come by accident ;)

   This Christmas was a lovely opportunity to remember my childhood
   years and spend my days like a care-free little kid ;)

   Played lots of Monopoly (which was created in the 1930s, during the
   big recession in US. Quite suitable to our times, I should say)

   Watched my favourite old-school cartoons!

   Found an updated version of tic-tac toe on Miniclip.com ...

   And solved the Curse of the Amsterdam Diamond!

   This year, my wish for white Christmas came true...

   ...which turned out a bad thing to wish for, as all these weekenders
   rushed to the ski center nearby and ultimately occupied all the coffee
   shops in town. Yeah, I didn't go out much...

   Instead, I mostly stayed inside the house and did all kinds of trivial

   things, like cleaning my makeup brushes :/

   Ate lots of Baci chocolates! By far, my favourite candy ever.

   Lastly, here's the New Year's savoury pie with lamb.
   Probably the only family tradition my mum keeps every year.

P.S.: I was so sad we didn't get to put up a Christmas tree this year-
either this house is getting smaller or we're collecting too much stuff...

Hope you enjoyed this December picture vlog!

Evi   xx

Exploring Greek brands: the lip liners. Which one is the best?

In keeping with supporting Greek brands, here's part 3 of my attempt on mapping out some possible gems among makeup brands like Erre Due, Seventeen and Radiant; you can also have a look at part 1 and part 2.

This time, I'll be reviewing 3 best-seller lip liners that I specifically picked out from each aforementioned greek brand, so as to be fair and show some love to all ;)

The candidates are:
Seventeen Supersmooth Waterproof lip liner, #14 Pure Red
Radiant Softline Waterproof lip pencil, #06 Salmon
Erre Due Silky lip pencil, #64

I'll go through each shade separately, starting with my personal favourite:

Radiant Softline Waterproof lip pencil, #06 Salmon
It's not an exaggeration to say that you need this in your collection! This lip liner has the most beautiful pink-to-coral shade, which looks bright on the lips but is oh so wearable! It can be worn on its own or blended in with a pale lipstick like Creme d' Nude for a more pastel finish. The texture is soft, smudgeable and pretty long-lasting. <3 <3 <3 it!!!

Seventeen Supersmooth Waterproof lip liner, #14 Pure Red
A classic red shade. If lining your lips is not your thing, you simply cannot ignore it when it comes to shaping the perfect red pout- been there with Russian Red! The good thing is that this particular lip liner seems to match both warm- and cool-toned red lipsticks. Texture-wise, it's identical to the Radiant lip pencil- quality is excellent.

Erre Due Silky lip pencil, #64
This is your usual pink shade that is close to the lips' natural colour. It works with so many lipsticks and I do like it, but here's the thing: as it's slightly more creamy than the previous two, it's not as long-lasting and it also swatches a tad shiny, thus making it impossible to "cheat" and outdraw your lips to make them fuller. Still, it's the best formula for beginners ;)

----------

All in all, these are lovely lip liners of excellent quality- and for once, I find their price tag matches the brands' "affordable" orientation (around 5-6E each). I'm very satisfied with all three purchases and would urge you to check these out if you're in need of a lip liner. In fact, I don't think I'll be browsing into other brands for my lip liners from now on!

   Swatches from left to right: Radiant, Erre Due, Seventeen
   The pic doesn't do justice to the gorgeous Radiant pencil!

Now, to conclude with the question on this post's title,
which one performs the best?

Well, I could never be 100% sure about this, but I have a strong feeling that all three lip liners are made by the same factory in Germany!
Ιn other words, excluding the ever so slight creaminess of the Erre Due lip pencil, the only difference between all three lip liners may lie into their colour range!

So there's no real winner between these- but if I had to put them into some kind of order, I'd say Radiant has the biggest (and most interesting) colour variety, the Seventeen lip liners have the prettiest packaging and the Erre Due Silky pencils are a great choice for begginers.

***All three lip liners share the new silicon-infused formula that is embedded in a plastic pencil, not wooden. For more info about this innovation and how lip liners are produced and marketed by makeup brands, you HAVE to read this article (if you haven't already):  http://beautyandthebullshit.blogspot.com/2011/03/pencil-pornication-sequel.html

So, where do you shop for your lip liners?
What's your opinion on greek makeup brands in general?

Evi   xx

Garnier BB cream giveaway!

I have some exciting news for you today:

Garnier has kindly sent me 5 BB creams in shade 02-Light,
which are all up for grabs!!!




   You can read my review on the Garnier BB cream here-
   in a nutshell, I love it.

As always, I'm keeping the "rules" quite simple.

All you have to do to enter this giveaway is:

- be a follower of my blog through Google Friend Connect-
  just click the button "Join this site" at the top right of this page!
- in the comments section below, write ENTER ME with your GFC name
- please include your email address as well, so I can contact you
   in case you win ;)

Giveaway is open internationally until 26-1-2012;
then I'll pick a random winner through randomizer.org.

Disclaimer: if you're under 18, please take your parents' permission for entering this giveaway.
Also, all invalid entries will be disqualified, so make sure you follow the rules correctly ;)

Good luck to all!!!

Evi   xx

High-end blush recommendations, pretty please?

My lovelies, I need your help...

Now that I've treated myself with the purchases of those cult high-end makeup products Chanel Bronze Universel and Dior Amber Diamond, I was thinking it was about time I got my hands on a high-end blush, as well ;)

I first decided on a cream blush as I don't own any yet; naturally, the Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge was the first that came to mind, though after a little online browsing I got disillusioned: the wicked brains behind Bobbi Brown decided to discontinue all Pot Rouges! How swell! Second candidate is the infamous Illamasqua Rude cream blush; absolutely love its colour, hate that it's so hard to get online! Ugh... Do let me know if you happen to know any online stockists cause Ebay is currently not an option!

There's also the cream/liquid hybrid blush that is best portrayed in Daniel Sandler Watercolour blush and MUFE HD blush. I'm still unsure if Daniel Sandler's version can be classified as high-end, but whatever; the shipping to Greece will make for a high-end price! As for the MUFE HD blush, I like its concept but... For some inexplicable reason, I detest its packaging! That alone can keep me miles away from makeup products :P

Then there's always the powder blushes and the Masters of the genre: Nars Orgasm and Benefit Coralista. Both blushes are ever so high on my imaginary wishlist but seriously now, how many pink-with-gold-shimmer blushes a girl can have?

The last couple of candidates are from two brands I've looked up online the least, Tarte and Cargo: the Tarte Amazonian Clay blushes have recently been all over Youtube and beauty blogs, so there must be a good reason for all this buzz; the Cargo blushes stand out because of their simple (but different) silver packaging, while all reviews I've come across are 100% rave. However, both products are only available online, so I can't verify their swatches first-hand :(

Guys, I need your feedback on this one!
If you could recommend me only one from the products featured above, what would it be?
Also, if you own any of these, do let me know what you think of them. I value your opinion and will surely take it into consideration!

Thank you in advance ;)

Evi   xx

Winner of H&M nail polishes giveaway ;)

Big thanks to anyone that participated in my tiny giveaway!

Getting right to the point of this post:
the winner is...

Selehna!!!
Congratulations, girl!

There were 35 valid entries from the total of 39; I used randomizer.org to generate the lucky number. Selehna was the 9th valid entry.

P.S.: I already have a couple of goodies from Elf that I'm planning to give away in the near future,
so keep an eye for that ;)

Evi   xx

December 2011 favourites!

December was a month of rediscovering some long forgotten makeup products that I'd left unused for quite some time- or rather "shopping my stash", to quote Lollipop26 ;)

Guilts (of owning too much makeup) aside, I very much enjoyed this whole process of going through my collection, swatching this and that, and picking up a few products to add them to my everyday makeup basket! It almost felt as if I was in a cosmetics store shopping for new makeup acquisitions... But I digress.

Having a pink kick lately, no doubt!
This is the 4th customised Elf palette that I've filled with eyeshadows from the Body Shop- can't stress enough how much I love these! Wearing pink eyeshadow still feels a bit uncomfortable (wouldn't want to look like "girly girl" any time soon) but I'm getting there! Another rediscovery during past month was the pink Shimmer Waves compact by TBS; I've been loving to wear it as a highlighter or on its own, its shimmer is so fine and non obtrusive. Yet another underestimated product by the Body Shop!

I also got one step closer to the perfect lip combo for smokey eyes:
Mac Creme d' Nude lipstick topped with Au Naturale mineral lipgloss by Elf. To me, Creme d' Nude screams to be worn with lipgloss on top; this lipglass clone by Elf warms it up and gives it some dimension. Now I need a coordinating lip liner for some definition, recommendations are welcome ;)

Skincare wise, I've been wearing the Garnier BB cream* almost daily- given that it provides very low coverage and my skin is far from being flawless, I'm surprised that I've been opting for this one instead of my usual liquid foundation. Hmm, that's clearly an indicator to get a new one! The Aloe night cream by TBS healed my skin from some dry patches- finally, thank God! Now I'm thinking of purchasing the Aloe moisturiser with SPF to wear during the day.

I'll end this post with my boyfriend's gift for Christmas- a white gold necklace that can be worn in two ways. I like it, I'll wear it, I'm so grateful for Kostis who's spoiling me like this, but... I wish it was something I had chosen myself. Is it lame to ask him for a specific jewelry piece on my birthday in March? Answer me with a "no", please!

*Edit: forgot to mention the Garnier BB cream was sent to me for free. Oops!

So, what have you been loving during December?
It could be anything, be random!

Evi   xx