More Moisture! Review of e.l.f. Hydrating Water Essence

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I have to admit, I've been skeptical of e.l.f.'s skincare line ever since it came out a couple of years ago. At the time that it launched, most of the products looked very basic and uninspiring, but priced higher than I would expect for basics from e.l.f. (which seems to be true of many of their products lately). Nevertheless, earlier this year I ended up buying the e.l.f. Hydrating Water Essence, so I'll explain why I think it's worth it.

I picked this up after searching for a hydrating essence to add to my routine. Now, I know there are lots of Korean and other Asian essences out there, and some of them have been recommended to me on good authority, but despite a few forays, I still haven't delved completely into Asian skincare. It just seems like a whole other field of study I'd have to master, and I have enough research on my plate at the moment. This e.l.f. essence have the advantages of being easily accessible (ULTA, Target, etc.), and only costing $10 for a huge 5 oz. bottle.

I got interested in adding an essence to my routine after looking enviously at all the people who seem to have achieved beautiful, problem-free skin apparently through applying layer upon layer of moisture. I'm sure there's more going on there, but having moved to hotter and drier climates this year, I figured that more hydration surely couldn't hurt. (Yes, I'm kind of using "hydration" and "moisture" interchangeably here, but technically they are different.) As it turns out, I do believe my deep dive into increased hydration has helped my skin. I don't think it has made permanent, dramatic changes, necessarily, but I think the increased moisture has done some good things, like decrease the appearance of the hollows under my eyes. For example, compare this photo from last September, when I asked for advice about reducing that sunken eye look:

A post shared by Lyn (brutally honest beauty) (@brutallyhonestbeauty) on Sep 13, 2017 at 7:44am PDT

With this one in similar lighting from February:

A post shared by Lyn (brutally honest beauty) (@brutallyhonestbeauty) on Feb 2, 2018 at 11:46am PST

Or this one I just posted today. The improvement in my under-eye area isn't the same as if I'd got fillers, of course--it's not preternaturally smooth and it's better some days than others--but the overall plumping effects of increased moisture in my skin are noticeable.

Now, I'm not saying that this e.l.f. essence is solely responsible for these differences. It's just one of many hydrating and moisturizing products I've been using in my routine (steps outlined here), but I've been using it consistently for a couple of months now, and I like it.

Oddly enough, e.l.f. does not emphasize what I would consider the more interesting ingredients in its marketing of this essence, the ones that tend to be lauded by skincare-obsessed people on Instagram and Reddit. It doesn't seem to be aimed particularly toward us weirdoes. Instead, they note that it is:

A lightweight and nourishing essence infused with moisturizing effects of purified water, coconut water, algae, and coffee.

Ok. The moisturizing effects of water and some other stuff. Let's look at the complete ingredients.

Water (Aqua), Glycerin, Dipropylene Glycol, Trehalose, Niacinamide, Chondrus Crispus (Carrageenan) Extract, Coffea Arabica (Coffee) Extract, Cyclodextrin, Sodium Hyaluronate, Sodium PCA, Urea, Polyquatemium-51, Triacetin, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Water, Coceth-7, PPG-1-PEG-9 Lauryl Glycol Ether, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Disodium EDTA, Xanthum Gum, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Fragrance (Parfum) 

So it contains glycerin, trehalose, niacinamide, and sodium hyaluronate, and you're going to talk to me about algae? I mean, carrageenan is a fine ingredient, which is probably mainly in there to thicken up the essence a bit, but I assume they're trying to get you to think of the magical algae in La Mer products by highlighting that one. And sure, coffee extract is a good antioxidant, so thumbs up there. My research into coconut water in skincare is less conclusive, but it seems like it might have some moisturizing properties.

Overall, e.l.f. seems to be using exactly the opposite marketing strategy for this product that The Ordinary uses. They emphasize the ingredients that sounds familiar, natural, and generally pleasant, instead of the others that are effective, but "scary," scientific-sounding chemicals. As a result, I think they are going to miss out on some of the skincare nerd market, so I'm here to draw your attention to some of the other fun shit in there.

Glycerin is just straight up one of the most effective humectants out there, so seeing it second on the list is a good sign in a hydrating essence. It's also nice that they haven't canceled out any of its effects by including drying alcohol like some other "soothing" and "cooling" products out there do.

Trehalose is particularly interesting, because for some reason e.l.f. chose not to emphasize that this essence contains the mystical powers of *~~*~mushrooms~*~~*. A missed opportunity--especially since living in L.A., which tends to be on the cutting edge of health woo bullshit, I've been seeing miraculous (non-hallucinogenic) mushroom extracts all over the fucking place. Trehalose in skincare, however, seems not to be nonsense. It has hydrating, and possibly antioxidant, properties.

Niacinamide is one of my favorite ingredients (though patch test, because not everyone's skin likes it). It's a vitamin B that can help with enlarged pores, lines and wrinkles, uneven skin tone, and, in my experience, acne.

Sodium Hyaluronate is a form of hyaluronic acid, another of my favorite ingredients. This form is generally considered more effective than regular hyaluronic acid. It's a fantastic humectant that always makes my skin very, very happy.

There are other nice ingredients in there, and nothing that particularly worries me, but I thought I'd just highlight those four. Because there is so much water (it's the first ingredient), the concentration of each of these ingredients is going to be lower than in a serum, naturally--but do note that they all appear near the top of the ingredients list, well above the fragrance. The fragrance in this product is noticeable when you apply it, and it's a floral, sort of rose, scent, but it's mild. I can't smell it once it's on my skin. I'm guessing it would be okay for all but the least tolerant of fragrance, but it's something to keep in mind.

As for a review of this essence in actual practice, it has a thin, runny texture, a bit thicker than water. I dispense a few drops into the palm of my hand, rub my hands together, and then spread it on my face. It absorbs in a couple of minutes, but you can apply several layers if you want more of that bouncy, hydrated feeling, and it will continue to absorb. It doesn't cause any sensation on my skin other than comfortable hydration. Other products apply well on top of it. I even like the packaging, which tends to be a factor that's pretty low in importance in my assessment of things. It looks pretty and it's functional, with just a small opening for drops to be shaken out. I really have no complaints!

I also used the e.l.f. essence to make my own soothing/hydrating mist, by mixing it about half and half with water in a spray bottle, and it works very well for that purpose, too.

I've been using my bottle now since early March, almost every night, and I've finished less than a quarter. of it I have a feeling it will easily last me a year. $10 for a year is pretty great. This e.l.f. Hydrating Water Essence is a great example of an effective product with top-of-the-line ingredients at a good price. That's pretty much the best I can hope for from e.l.f. Now I'm wondering if any of their other skincare products are worth a second look. Thoughts?

Oh, in case you're wondering what makes a hydrating essence different from a hydrating toner? Nothing.

Battle of the Bronzes: e.l.f. Smudge Pot in Cruisin' Chic vs. Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze

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I'm a big fan of Maybelline Color Tattoos (one of my favorite cheap eyeshadows), and perhaps my favorite of those I currently own is Bad to the Bronze. In addition to wearing very well over primer (something not all cream eyeshadows do), I like that I can use it to create a very pretty look very quickly. It applies best with my finger, which takes slightly less time for me than a brush (though, then, I have to clean off my finger). And the shimmer in it is intense enough (without being glittery) that if I blend Bad to the Bronze from my lash line into and slightly above my crease, it creates a complex look that gives the impression that I've used more than one shade. The shimmer reflects on the lower part of my lid, but not in the crease. Almost like a very subtle duochrome effect.

Here is is on my eye. See what I mean about the metallic sheen near my lashes with a warmer, less reflective color in the crease? I think it has more impact in person.

After reading this reddit post raving about the e.l.f. Smudge Pots, I was really curious as to how they would compare to my Color Tattoos. The redditor claims that they are superior to both Color Tattoos and to MAC Paint Pots, and specifically that they do not crease at all. Exciting! So I picked up the shade Cruisin' Chic, which looked like a taupier version of Bad to the Bronze in the photos I found. I reasoned that either it would be a nice alternative to a current favorite, or if it turned out to be really similar, it would make a good (better?) replacement once Bad to the Bronze was finished or dried up.

Spoiler: I was disappointed by the e.l.f. Smudge Pot for a variety of reasons, most of which probably come down to personal preference. Let's start with comparison swatches (not over primer):

Swatches of e.l.f. Smudge Pot in Cruisin' Chic (left) and Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze (right)

In the swatches (and in the pot), I think they look pretty similar. Cruisin' Chic, rather than being more of a taupe like I had expected, turns out to be a bit warmer and redder. The shimmer in Cruisin' Chic is about the same color as its base, while the shimmer in Bad to the Bronze looks a bit more silvery to me (though I'm not sure that comes out in this photo--it somehow looks gold here). In swatches on my arm, the pigmentation is about the same. The e.l.f. Smudge Pot feels a lot softer and slipperier, but then this Maybelline Color Tattoo is over a year old (maybe almost two?) so it's stiffer than it was when it was brand new.

Applied to my eyelids, however, the e.l.f. product is less pigmented, perhaps because it's softer. It sheers out really easily when it's blended, though it is possible to build it up a bit. The shimmer is also more subtle and overall I think this shade looks less striking than Bad to the Bronze when I wear it. Here is is on my eye, applied in the same way as the Color Tattoo (i.e. with my finger, over primer):

It's a nice enough eyeshadow, but there's nothing particularly interesting about it. I probably have about a half dozen extremely similar powder shadows. But if it does indeed wear like iron, it might edge those other shadows out.

Sadly . . .

While I haven't noticed an unusual amount of creasing, it wears off in my crease very quickly. It's almost as if it sticks to itself wherever one part of my lid touches another part and removes itself. Without primer, it will do this in seconds. With primer, as in the photo, it may take several minutes or up to an hour. The photo above was taken about 45 minutes after application (again, over primer) and that light patch in the middle is not a reflection, it's a bald spot. It only gets worse the longer I wear it.

Maybelline Color Tattoos aren't perfect in this respect, either. Over primer, I'll get some creasing after a few hours, though nothing dire. But because I think Bad to the Bronze is so much more interesting, I'm more tolerant. Cruisin' Chic just doesn't have a lot going for it, in my view, either in terms of appearance or performance.

On me, the formula of this e.l.f. Smudge Pot works very similarly to most eyeshadow crayons (like this NYX crayon I reviewed ages ago). They're too slick and they just don't last, even with primer. My oily eyelids eat makeup for breakfast, that's true, but I was hoping that this stuff would be better than average, not worse. If you can get eyeshadow crayons to work for you, however, you might have great luck with the Smudge Pots.

With all other things equal, the e.l.f. product certainly does have an edge when it comes to price. As I've discussed before, the Maybelline Color Tattoos have heavy, solid glass bases that make them seem bigger but don't contain any product. All of the product is just inside the height of the lid (more visible in the photo in this post).

While it's true that the e.l.f. pot is made of very thick plastic that also makes it appear larger than it is (more visible in the first photo in this post), it contains 0.19 oz., while the Maybelline contains slightly less at 0.14 oz. Since the e.l.f. Smudge Pot costs $3, and the Color Tattoo costs around $7 (or $5.60 on Amazon), I don't have to do any calculations to demonstrate which is a better value per ounce. So if the Smudge Pot appeals to you, the price is right. Though I much prefer the glitz of the e.l.f. Long Lasting Lustrous Eyeshadows (reviewed here), if you're looking for a cheap thrill. (And Wayne Goss said in a video that they are nearly identical to Chanel Illusion D'Ombre eyeshadows.)

It's possible that the other colors of Smudge Pots are more exciting, but I'm not really inclined to try them. $3 is still too much for a product that doesn't work for me. I'll stick with my Color Tattoo.

Do I Need This? Lip Primer (Comparison of Too Faced Lip Insurance Lip Primer, e.l.f. Lip Lock Pencil, and Bite Beauty Line & Define Lip Primer)

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Welcome to the latest installment of my Do I Need This? series. In these posts, I offer my experience and opinion about whether or not I think a product or technique is worth it. Obviously, you don't really need ANY beauty products, so the answer to the question is always going to be no, to some extent. But is it going to change your life (or face)? Is it going to make things easier? Are you going to notice any difference at all? That's what I'm getting at. You may disagree with my verdict, because we all have different bodies/faces/brains/desires, but I'll try to offer a starting point, at least. 

One of the ways beauty companies keep us buying things is by continually creating new categories of suddenly indispensable products. Primer is one category that has certainly been growing over the last five years or so. Suddenly we need to prime everything: our faces, our eyelids, and even, apparently, our hair. I'm not going to be buying any hair primer, and foundation primer rarely seems to actually do anything to improve my makeup, but eyeshadow primer has actually become essential for me. I used to rarely bother with eyeshadow because it creased and melted off in a couple of hours, so primer makes a huge difference. But lipsticks and lip glosses can be finicky and fleeting too. Will lip primer do anything to make our lives easier? Or is it just another gimmick?

Do you need lip primer?

Short answer: Maybe, if you have problems with lip color feathering or pigmented glosses fading.

I'm going to compare three different lip primers here--one very cheap and two pretty expensive, one a thick liquid and two waxy sticks. Too Faced Lip Insurance Lip Primer ($20) is a whitish, translucent liquid product that comes in a tube with a doe foot applicator. It's similar to an eyeshadow primer (though I tried using eyeshadow primer on my lips and it was not a success). Bite Beauty Line & Define Lip Primer ($22) and e.l.f. Lip Lock Pencil ($3) are very similar, hard, matte, waxy crayons. The main difference is that the Bite product smells minty. (Note: I have a mini version of the Bite primer, which was part of the holiday Bite Discovery Kit.) No swatches of the primers here, because they are all nearly transparent. All three products make essentially the same claims: to prevent feathering and make lip color last longer. I tested each product with the same tricky lip gloss and lipstick.

Not my greatest photography.

First up, lip gloss. One of my favorite lip glosses is Avon Glazewear in Intense Plum (now sadly discontinued but still available on Amazon). As the name suggests, it's a quite pigmented purplish gloss. The problem is that that once I blot it, most of the color disappears. Wearing a thick layer of it, however, isn't really an option, because it gets messy and smeary. Too high maintenance. So a primer that can keep it in place at full strength would be ideal.

(Many, many photos below, so I will give you a cut.)

Primer vs. Primer: Comparison and review of e.l.f Mineral/Studio Eyeshadow Primer and Nars Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base (plus Wet N Wild Fergie Eyeshadow Primer)

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Here is a quick comparison of a couple of high and low end eyeshadow primers to supplement my previous post on the subject. This time we have e.l.f. Mineral Eyeshadow Primer, which sells for $3 for 0.15 oz., and Nars Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base, which sells for $25 for 0.26 oz. (I got a mini tube as a gift-with-purchase). The e.l.f. primer is labeled "Mineral" on the tube, but confusingly listed under "Studio Eyeshadow Primer" on their website. It's the same product. I have it in Sheer.

I swatches these two primers next to Wet N Wild Fergie Take on the Day Eyeshadow Primer in the shade that is ridiculously and unhelpfully named For My Primas. It's the sheer version with no shimmer. This is my favorite primer, so it serves as a good basis for comparison. You can see it compared to other primers in the old post.

These are the things I look for in a primer, in order of importance, since I have fairly oily eyelids: (1) prevents creasing; (2) prevents fading/prolongs wear time; and (3) intensifies the color/opacity of the eyeshadow. So these are the criteria I use to judge a primer, which you can keep in mind if some of them are of less importance to you.

Here are swatches of the same eyeshadow alone and over each of the primers. I gave away the blue Covergirl shadow that I used last time, but I still have this equally crappy one, because the gorgeous color keeps me hanging on: Covergirl Eye Enhancers in Turquoise Tempest. As you can see, it barely shows up at all without primer, so it's a serious test for a primer.

Comparison swatches (left to right) with no primer, over Wet N Wild Fergie Take on the Day Primer, e.l.f. Mineral/Studio Eyeshadow Primer, and Nars Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base.

You can see from the swatches that the WNW outperforms both the e.l.f. and the Nars in terms of intensifying the shadow. It also outperforms the other two in both other categories as well. No creasing and little fading for 8 hours+.

The e.l.f. primer helps with creasing a bit, but it's not great. By that I mean I can go an hour or two before creasing instead of 15 minutes without primer. It does not make eyeshadow last much longer in general - most of it has worn or faded away after a few hours. It also only slightly improves the pigmentation of eyeshadow. It isn't completely transparent, either. It has some pale pigment in it, which affects the color of the eyeshadow, making it a little lighter. It's hard to tell on my very pasty arm, but if you look at the few millimeters surrounding the swatch, you may be able to see a light halo. This could be a problem for people with darker skin than mine.

The Nars primer does prevent creasing pretty well, so that's good. It helps prolong the wear of the eyeshadow a bit, but not all day. And the intensification of the eyeshadow color is good but not great. It's completely transparent when it sets, and it does create a smooth surface for your eyeshadow, if that's something that's important to you. I don't really care about that, personally. I like that it's not sticky, but I don't particularly need smoother eyelids.

I can't really think of any good reason to spend $25 on this Nars stuff, unless you really like a completely transparent or smoothing primer and have a hard time finding one. It has a lot of positive reviews out there, so I guess it's doing something for someone. I wonder if they are from people who haven't tended to use primers in the past (since it's certainly better than nothing) or who are mega-fans of Nars.

This e.l.f. primer should be skipped entirely. If you want a super cheap primer, go for the $1 e.l.f. version (also reviewed here), which is much better  If you want a very cheap primer, buy the Wet N Wild. I still haven't found anything better, especially when you take the price into account!

I am not a TV star (Review of e.l.f. Essential Lip Stain in Crimson Crush + sassy GIFs)

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Every time I've watched New Girl or Don't Trust the B (RIP), I end up trying to figure out how to get my lips to look like Zooey Deschanel's or Krysten Ritter's. What is particularly appealing are the scenes when these women are just sort of hanging around the house casually, probably when we are supposed to assume that they are not wearing makeup (ha!) - yet they still have crimson lips. They don't really look like they have lipstick on; it's as if their lips are just naturally cherry red. Here are a couple of examples of what I mean:

These are perhaps not the best illustrations, because they look pretty lipsticky, but apparently people aren't screencapping or GIFing these ladies bumming around in their PJs.

I got it in my head that I needed a lip stain to replicate this look. I am fully aware that the product used on the actual TV shows was probably not a stain. More likely it's just blotted matte lipstick or something. If it wears off or gets messed up, they have a makeup artist standing by. Nevertheless, I wanted a stain! I am stubborn.

A not-terrible $3 brown liquid liner: Jordana INCOLOR Fabuliner Liquid Eyeliner Pen

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I always intend to write really concise reviews for products I don't feel particularly strongly about, but then my rambly nature takes over and I go on and on anyway. For real this time, I'm going to make this quick. FOR REAL THIS TIME.

The Jordana INCOLOR Fabuliner Liquid Eyeliner Pen is a felt tip eyeliner. It's like a sharpie for your face. Previously, I wrote about a couple of other brown liquid liners that were cheap ($3) and sucked. One objectively sucked, and the other I just wasn't into. So I got another cheap option to try. It's brown, because I already have way too fucking many black eyeliners. I wear brown fairly often, because it's a little less harsh with my coloring than black.

First things first: make sure you store this tip down in a cup or something, because otherwise the tip will be dry when you go to use it. When you do use it, you'll have to apply a medium amount of pressure in order to get a dark, opaque line. I don't mean an uncomfortable amount of pressure, but more than you might use with a brush, for example. If you use a light touch, you will get a dark enough line on the first eye from whatever liquid has saturated the outer layers of the tip, but by the time you move on to your other eye, the tip will lose saturation, and you won't get it back even by leaving it sitting upside down for several minutes. You need to press a little harder to get stuff flowing.

With a light touch: okay on the first eye; very faint on the second eye.

The pen is easy to use, and the shape of the tip makes it easy easy to vary the thickness of the line you draw. The downside of this pen is that tip gets frayed easily. I've only used it a handful of times, and it's already getting a bit floppy and imprecise. You will have some slight smearing if you get it wet (no crying!), but otherwise it wears well. It doesn't bleed or crumble or anything like that. It's good. There's nothing about it that blows my mind, but it does the job.

 Jordana INCOLOR Fabuliner Liquid Eyeliner Pen (applied using medium pressure)

Thinning the Hoard

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Someone once asked me how I decide what to keep and what to get rid of when sorting through my accumulation of makeup products. Now seems like as good a time as any to write a post about that process, since I just realized that I'm going to have to move in less than 6 weeks. Ugh! I mean, I'll be glad to get out of my current shithole of an apartment, but apartment hunting and moving are huge pains in the ass.

Before I pack everything up and move it somewhere else, I'd really like to eliminate as much of the useless shit I have lying around as possible. My piles of unnecessary belongings extend far beyond just makeup, but since that's what I mainly talk about here, that's what I'll stick with right now. Writing it all out is a useful process for me, because it forces me to come up with realistic rules for myself about what I should or should not hold on to, and to spend the time to consider whether or not I really have room for various items. So I'll go through a few categories of cosmetics here and lay out some guidelines upon which I'm basing my decisions about what to keep and what to set free. If you can think of any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Trash or Keep

There are certain items that I can easily decide to hold on to, such as products that I use on a regular basis and/or one that are unique and well-loved, and there are those that I can easily dispense with, because they are of no use to me.

Trash: There are some things that I'm never going to use, and that I also don't think anyone else should use. I tend to come into the possession of shit that falls into this category through subscriptions (Ipsy, in particular), free samples/gift-with-purchase deals, or the occasional impusle purchase. For example, in a recent Ipsy bag, I got some "Mark Fading Pads" by Proactiv, and the first ingredient in them after water was SD alcohol. No thanks. I don't want to use them, and I don't want to subject anyone else to them, so bye bye.

Practical, non-perishable stuff: This category includes products that will get used up eventually and won't expire in the meantime, like eyebrow pencils. Yes, I have too many of them. But they don't take up a lot of space, and they will be fine waiting for me to get around to finishing them. Just don't pick up any new ones in the meantime, self.

Those categories are pretty straightforward. But I also have a lot of things that are more difficult to classify. They may or may not be superfluous. They probably are, but it's helpful to think carefully about why, so that I don't regret passing them along to someone else, because I am ridiculous.

Makeup

Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner and Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide On Eyeliner

Dupes: I confess that I own a lot of unnecessary dupes and products that perform basically the same function as one another. One example is black eyeliner. Everyone has a favorite black eyeliner, and so I've picked up quite a few along the way that I've heard good things about. I don't really like to open something that I don't yet need, so I have several brand new black eyeliners just sitting around waiting for attention. And I don't even fucking wear black liner very often. Why did I buy them? (Anxiety?) I'll hold on to a couple in addition to the ones I'm currently using, but the rest must go.

A whole fucking dissertation on eyebrow products for blondes and redheads, plus a mini review of L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly mascara (photo-heavy post)

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So this is the latest installation of a quasi-series in which I pull out all the products I have in from single category and try to decide what I should keep and what I should get rid of. Spoiler: I decided that I'm going to keep all of my eyebrow shit, because it's practical and really won't ever expire, so I'll use it up eventually. I did come to the radical conclusion that I should stop buying more, though. Duh.

All my eyebrow products (top to bottom): NYX Eyebrow Cake Powder in Auburn/Red; e.l.f. Studio Eyebrow Kit in Light; Milani Brow Tint Pen in Natural Taupe; CoverGirl Brow and Eye Makers in Soft Blond; Avon Ultra Luxury Eyebrow Pencil in Blonde; and Benefit Gimme Brow in Light/Medium. 

My hair color over the last few years has run the gamut from blonde-blonde to strawberry-blonde to dark-blonde to red to really-fucking-red. Some of the products below have served me well no matter my hair color, such as the e.l.f. kit and the Avon pencil. Others, like the NYX kit and the CoverGirl pencil really only well with certain hair colors - but then they work very well.

You can tell from the photo above that almost every brow product I have has been well used, so I know them intimately. Look at those stubby pencils! The one exception is Benefit's Gimme Brow, which I got as a graduation present in May. It actually came from the Benefit vending machine in the Minneapolis airport. That's a thing that exists.

In the past, when I thought about my minimum makeup - like what I'd wear if I was running out the door and only had time for a couple of things - it was always just mascara and blush. Maybe under-eye concealer. Lately, though, I feel like I can really take or leave those things so long as I've filled in my eyebrows a little. They're fairly invisible on their own, and as I've pointed out before, they really do make a difference.

I used to use the sort of technique where you define the bottom edge of the brow completely and then fill the rest in, but recently I've much preferred Lisa Eldridge's method of focusing on the peak of the arch and working lightly out from there. (If you have never watched a Lisa Eldridge video, do it some day when you're in a bad mood or stressed - trust me, she's so soothing.) This method really does create a more natural-looking effect. I do fill in the part closest to my nose more than she does, however, because that's where the hair on my brows is the lightest and thinnest. If I don't add a little extra there, my eyebrows look too far apart - I think they still do sometimes, honestly, but I'm not (yet) totally comfortable filling in where there's no real hair at all. Anyway, as you can see in the photos below, this isn't the super-defined and polished look that you tend to see in closeups of dramatic eye makeup. It doesn't look flawless. Super-defined is pretty, but it's just not what I'm going for. My brows might look a little less than perfect in a super closeup, but no one is looking as closely as my camera is getting in these photos - and the lack of perfection is what makes them look natural, I think. Here's what they usually look like at a normal distance (scroll down).

I hope you have a couple of weeks to read the rest of this post, because as usual I am long-fucking-winded.

Pinterest lies: Review of e.l.f. Studio Lip Exfoliator

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So I'll start by pointing out that this is a perfectly fine, serviceable product. It's supposed to exfoliate your lips, and it more or less does. It's basically just chunky brown sugar suspended in a emollient/waxy base. Like gritty lip balm.

But I see this pin all the time and for some reason it drives me crazy.

It's the caption that gets me, and it's always the same. I need to straighten things out here: don't buy this to use overnight. What are you going to do with it overnight? It makes no sense. When you rub this stuff on your lips, it leaves behind a bunch of grains of sugar and some moisturizing stuff. You can massage it around some more to exfoliate better, but then you still have chunks on your face that you have to wipe off. I guess you could then leave the remaining balm behind overnight and that might do something, but that's the case with any lip balm. Personally, I like to add some extra moisturizer to my lips, because the sugary taste of this stuff makes me want to lick my lips, and that's not good for them.

I know, I'm being too picky. Anyway, it works okay. I still usually have some big flaky bits on my lips after I use it, but then I always do, no matter what I try to do about that. I find that a little olive oil or honey with brown sugar mixed into it works better as a lip exfoliator, because the pieces of sugar in the e.l.f. stick are pretty big and sparse so they're not as efficient for scrubbing. They're pretty rough, too. The advantage of this stick is that it's more portable and (slightly) less messy than a homemade concoction.

So it's fine. It's convenient and there's nothing wrong with it. I wouldn't buy it again, but for $3 it's pretty cheap and certainly a better option than some ridiculous fucking $25 lip scrub. But $3 worth of oil and sugar would go a lot further and work a bit better.

Dupe Test: e.l.f. Shimmering Facial Whip in Lilac Petal ($1) vs. Benefit High Beam ($26)

Disclosure: This post contains some Amazon affiliate links.
e.l.f. Shimmering Facial Whip in Lilac Petal is frequently mentioned as a cheap dupe for the much beloved but very expensive High Beam highlighter from Benefit. I'll be the first to admit that I am pretty liberal with applying the term "dupe". I'm no stickler. If it's basically the same and performs the same function, I'm fine with it. Nevertheless, after comparing these products (and two other pinkish highlighters I own), I have some mild reservations about calling them dupes. They can be used for the same purposes, successfully, but there are some significant differences. Rather than a dupe, I'd say that the e.l.f. highlighter is a good product, and a reasonable alternative to the Benefit version. A near dupe, maybe. Since I'm convinced that there are cheap options that are comparable to almost all higher-end beauty products, and since I'm on a weird quest to determine which e.l.f. products are decent and which ones are shit, this kind of comparison is my idea of fun. Wheeeeee.

Left to right: e.l.f. Shimmering Facial Whip in Lilac Petal, Benefit High Beam, Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer in Pink Shimmer, Pixi Brightening Primer in Pearl Essence

I threw two other similar highlighters into the mix, just for the sake of completion, and in case anyone else has them and would like to see how they fare. None of these are dupes. You can see just from the photo above that the e.l.f. highlighter is quite a bit pinker than the Benefit or Stila, and it is pinker than the Pixi option too, though the bottle for that one is opaque. On to the swatches!

Top left to bottom right: Swatches of e.l.f. Shimmering Facial Whip in Lilac Petal, Benefit High Beam, Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer in Pink Shimmer, Pixi Brightening Primer in Pearl Essence

Let me break them down one by one - I'll end with e.l.f.

Do I Need This? Makeup Setting Spray

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
Here is the yet another installment of "Do I Need This?", a series about new and trendy beauty products (or just those that might be unfamiliar and baffling to both of us). I'll offer my experience and opinion about whether or not I think the product under consideration is worth shelling out for. Obviously, you don't need ANY beauty products, so the answer is always going to be no, a little bit. But is it going to change your life (or face)? Is it going to make things easier? Are you going to notice any difference at all if you use it? That's what I'm getting at. You may disagree with my verdict, because we all have different bodies/faces/brains/desires, but I'll try to give you a starting point at least.

I just had to go ahead and write this post that I've been sitting on for at least 6 months. No more dithering. The fact that I've been trying and trying to figure out a way for these products to actually be useful should itself give you an idea of what my verdict is going to be here. I have seen people all over the great wide Internets claim that setting sprays are miraculous, but in the end, I can only base my review on my own personal experience with them. I've tried three sprays at three price points from Urban Decay, NYX, and e.l.f., and also I tried just misting water on my face. All the products I tested have very different ingredients - so none of them are dupes.

Do I need this?

Short answer: Fuck no.

What is it?

Several companies make mists for your face that you are supposed to spritz on after you apply your makeup. They have a couple of advertised benefits: they will make your makeup's finish look more natural and/or they well make your makeup last longer. I have seen them described as "hairspray for your face." Sort of like a primer that you apply last instead of first.

For each of these products, I have tested them several times, over a variety of different types of makeup: medium coverage liquid foundation, tinted moisturizer, powder foundation, and concealer. I don't get into a lot of detail about the distinctions below, because I did not notice that they performed better over one type of makeup or another. I also used a variety of techniques: more or less spray, holding the bottle closer or farther apart, etc. Again, I don't have much to report about better or worse techniques. The one thing I would recommend is that if you wear non-waterproof mascara, you should apply that after you use a spray, because the spray might cause it to dissolve a little and transfer. It's not a huge problem, though.

Powder for the Pasty: Review of e.l.f. Tone Correcting Powder in Cool (and a comparison with Nars Light Reflecting Pressed Powder)

Disclosure: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link.
I'm going to discuss an e.l.f. product that I know a lot of people hate right now, and I'm going to give it a favorable review. I came to my conclusions about this stuff before I posted a review of some stupid sparkly e.l.f. shit and people commented how much they also disliked this non-sparkly e.l.f. powder. So I decided to take a little more time to test it and to think about it, and ultimately I ended up in the same place I started. I like it. But as with all personal reviews of cosmetics (and other things), you'll have to consider how much you have in common with me when you try to decide whether or not e.l.f. Tone Correcting Powder in Cool ($3) will work for you. In particular, I think this is a product that will work best for people with very pale, cool- or neutral-toned, combination or oily skin. Like me.

e.l.f. Tone Correcting Powder in Cool

As you can see, I've already used up quite a bit of this stuff, so the embossed e.l.f. logo on the bottom right is starting to fade away. I find it useful and wear it regularly.

This is one of those multi-colored products that promises to correct whatever skin-tone problems you have. At first I was really skeptical, because when you mix the colors together, won't they just cancel each other out? Like if green is supposed to cancel redness, and you mix it with pink . . . yes, yes they will. The more I thought about it, though, I realized that the point is to create a neutrally-colored powder to cancel whatever you've got going on. In this case, as the shade name suggests, the powder will end up a bit cool toned, because it has more blue than any other color in it (because it has both blue and green). If they mixed all the colors together in advance, you'd have a palette full of an ugly greyish powder. So they give you pretty pastels and let you do it yourself.

Unlike other multi-colored neutralizers, like the Stila One Step Correct Primer, with this powder you have the option (in theory) to just use one shade at a time to counteract a particular skin issue (green for redness, blue or blue+pink for sallowness, yellow for makeup that is too cool or for purple undereye circles, pink+yellow for bluish undereye circles, etc.). Of course, the effectiveness of this technique will depend how pigmented or opaque the powder is. I decided to swatch each color over black (Urban Decay eyeliner in Zero), because if I just swatched them on my pale-ass arm, you would be looking at photos of nothing right now. Swatching over black makes the pigmentation/color of each part of the powder easier to detect and can also provide an idea of how sheer this stuff is.

e.l.f. Tone Correcting Powder in Cool: heavy swatches (from left to right) of yellow, blue, green, pink, and all four colors combined.

When the individual colors are heavily swatched over black, it's clear that the blue powder is the least opaque. The green has least tint, showing up as nearly white here. When all four colors are combined, you get, as expected, a greyish white. A cool neutral. (This post is a long one with some large photos, so click through to see the rest.)

Turn all of your creme nail polishes into shimmers (temporarily): Review of e.l.f. sheer topcoats

Disclosure: This post contains no affiliate links.
Collecting a few cheap effects topcoats is a good way to double (or triple, etc.) the number of nail polishes you have available, in a way. I've posted before about using a holo topcoat so that you instantly have as many different colors of holo polishes as you have polishes. Using these $2 e.l.f. shimmer topcoats similarly multiplies your options. If you have a color you love, but have seen a shimmer version of it that you're debating buying, getting the right shimmer topcoat might be a cheaper option (and it can be used with all your other colors, of course). I've included one example below where I was able to dupe an Orly nail polish using an ULTA creme I already had and an e.l.f. topcoat. These shimmers are also just really fucking pretty, so that's maybe enough reason to check them out.

Here are swatches of all the e.l.f. topcoats I own over Revlon Parfumerie Wild Violets. I also included the other glitter and flakie topcoats from e.l.f that I have, for the sake of completeness. The last time I checked, it was hard to find swatches of these shimmers, so I hope this is useful to someone. The only shimmer topcoat from them that I don't have is Twinkle Twilight, which I think is a silvery shimmer. (I want it too.) Each of these is one coat over the dark purple base, photographed in natural light.

Swatches (left to right) of Revlon Parfumerie Wild Violets (alone) and then topped with e.l.f. Summer Solstice, Supernova, Big Bang Blue, Fairy Dust, Love Me, and Enchanted.

More photos below:

Buying things I shouldn't (in drugstore clearance sales)

Okay, I'm going to get back on schedule around here for real this time. I was swamped for a couple of weeks with a graduation (mine - you can call me Dr. Cheap now) and a wedding (not mine) in Canada, but now I have nothing to do but sit at home putting on makeup and being unemployed. That should mean more blogging for a while.

This is a short one. Just thought I'd show you what I got for about $6 at Walgreens today:

• e.l.f. Shimmering Facial Whip in Lilac Petal
• e.l.f. Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Pink Lemonade
• Milani Baked Blush in Corallina

All of these things were 50% off. Not a huge deal for the e.l.f. shit, since you can get it for that price regularly on their website, but I thought what the hell. I want to compare that Shimmering Facial Whip to Benefit High Beam, since it's supposed to be a dupe. I like the other Liquid Lipstick I have, so we'll see about this one. The Milani blush is a little more exciting. I've heard good things about this one, and $4+ isn't bad.

You can find very useful info about the Walgreens and CVS clearance sales on Nouveau Cheap. I went to CVS too, but didn't find much there except for some of the scented Revlon polishes for about $2.50. But no more nail polish for me. None!

$3 near-dupe/alternative to The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer (e.l.f. Mineral Eyeshadow in Elegant)

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
I got The Balm's Mary-Lou Manizer highlighter not too long ago using some HauteLook credits (thank to whomever used my link!). I really like it. It's easy to use, and natural-looking, and effective. But if you don't buy it when it comes up on HauteLook (invite link), that shit is $24 (or $20 on Amazon)! I mean, it's a big pan, but still. That's a lot for some shimmery powder.

I've mentioned before that you can use just about any shimmery product as a highlighter, so long as it's close to your natural skin tone or a little lighter. I was playing around with my e.l.f. loose mineral eyeshadows the other day and decided to compare e.l.f. Mineral Eyeshadow in Elegant to Mary-Lou Manizer. Here are the swatches, using the same brush with two layers on the left and then blended out on the right:

Swatches of The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer (left) and
e.l.f. Mineral Eyeshadow in Elegant (right)

As you can see, the e.l.f. eyeshadow is cooler-toned and a bit more reflective. Even though The Balm's highlighter is a pressed powder and the e.l.f. shadow is loose, when applied the texture is very similar. They are both super soft and smooth. The both blend beautifully. The thing I find most annoying about highlighters is when you can actually see the product on the skin - like when it doesn't blend out seamlessly around the edges. For that reason, I'm not a huge fan of Benefit Watt's Up. It's hard to get it to blend subtly without just rubbing it off. But neither of these powders have that issue. They really just leave the impression of light reflecting off the parts of your face where you apply them, which is exactly the fucking point.

Though they look fairly different in the swatches, in actual practice, at least on my face, they look very similar. I don't have the right equipment/lighting at the moment to take useful comparison photos of highlighter on my face, so you'll just have to take my word for it. The only real advantages of The Balm's product are that, since it's pressed, it's less messy, and it wears a little bit longer. The e.l.f. eyeshadow, used as highlighter, lasts long enough, but the Mary-Lou Manizer is even more tenacious.

So if you've been considering The Balm's Mary-Lou Manizer, but don't want to spend so much, you might consider picking up this e.l.f. Mineral Eyeshadow in Elegant instead. It's normally $3, but e.l.f. shit goes on sale all the time. It's also a pretty eyeshadow, of course, if you like loose pigments.

My favorite thing to do with highlighter is to run it down the length of my nose and across the tip. I think it just gives my face a little more dimension, especially if I've used foundation or a matte powder. I also use it on my cheekbones, but since I wear glasses, I don't think it's particularly noticeable there.

(By the way, I only "got" the joke in The Balm's highlighter names a couple of weeks ago. Sigh. Luminizer. Get it?)

e.l.f. dupes/alternatives for Chanel, MUFE, etc. (from Wayne Goss)

In this short video, Wayne Goss favorably compares the e.l.f. Long-Lasting Lustrous Eyeshadow (which I posted about here - I also have the bronze one) with Chanel Illusion D'Ombre Long Wear Luminous Eyeshadow. He also recommends the e.l.f. Lock and Seal (which I used here), pointing out that it's exactly the same as versions from Make Up Forever and other brands that cost 5-6 times as much.

Quick review: e.l.f. Studio Makeup Remover Pen

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
So this is a review of a somewhat odd product that is actually quite useful if you are a clumsy person who is often in a hurry, like I am. If you have a bad habit of ending up with flecks of mascara on your face, because you stabbed yourself in the eye, because you were in a terrible rush to finish your makeup, because you were running late, because you're disorganized, because you are a human mess, this is a product you could consider.

It's a marker. It's shaped like a sharpie, with a firm, white, felt tip point (see it here). If you make a small mess, it's much more precise than a Q-tip, so you don't have to redo all of your under-eye concealer or your eyeshadow or whatever. Observe:

Before: Mascara mess.

After: Disaster averted.

I should have included a dime or something for scale, though maybe the tiny freckle above the swatch serves that purpose to some extent. The swatch was made with a typical eyeshadow brush (a little over a centimeter wide) and the black specks are from the bristles of a mascara brush. You can achieve precise removal using the e.l.f. pen, and then you only need to do a little bit of patching and blending to fix things up. I don't know of another method/tool that allows for as precise cleanup. (Suggestions?)

The pen is weird. I've had it for several months, and it's still working. But it feels light and empty. If you shake it, you don't hear any liquid inside. The tip feels quite dry to the touch. Mysterious, and yet totally functional.

After you use it to clean up a few specks of mascara or whatever, I recommend wiping off the tip on your hand or a kleenex, otherwise it will end up smearing the product around instead of removing it.

Watch for 50% off sales from e.l.f. and you can get this thing for $1.50, or you can get it for $3 from Target. It has come to my rescue after many a morning's disaster during which, 5 minutes before I was about to head out the door, my house was filled with the sounds of MOTHERFUCKER FUCKING SHIT FUCK GODDAMN IT! You know what I'm talking about.

Some sparkly shit from e.l.f. (Studio Blush in Gotta Glow! and Studio Tone Correcting Powder in Shimmer)

I bought both of these products mainly because I didn't really understand what they were supposed to be. Even after googling them, they remained mysterious to me. They were cheap and I was curious, so whatever. I got them.

e.l.f. Studio Blush in Gotta Glow! and e.l.f. Studio Tone Correcting Powder in Shimmer

To explain my journey of discovery with e.l.f. Studio Blush in Gotta Glow! and e.l.f. Studio Tone Correcting Powder in Shimmer in more visual terms, before I tried them, I was like this:

 And then after I tried them, I was like this:

And also this:

So that about sums it up, I think. But I'll show you some photos anyway.

Glossy/sheer red lip comparisons

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

I wanted to swatch all of my red lip products that are on the sheer side to see if I had any dupes that I could eliminate. I figured I might as well take a photo and post it, in case that sort of thing is useful to anyone else.

From left to right above:

Revlon ColorStay Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Romantic
Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in Candy Apple
Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in Cherry Tart
H&M Lip Pencil in Million Dollar Lips (Red)
Sephora Gloss Lipstick (unknown shade name)*
Stila Lip Glaze in Persimmon
Be a Bombshell Lip Gloss in Hot Mess
e.l.f. Super Glossy Lip Shine in New York City*

* These ones seem to be discontinued.

In the end, the only ones that are really very close are the Stila and Be a Bombshell glosses. I prefer the BAB formula. It's thinner, and so it will bleed slightly more, but it's easier to apply, feels better, and lasts really well. So bye bye Stila.

Here's a lip swatch of Hot Mess:

You can see lip swatches of a couple of the Revlon ones here. The color of the Revlon Balm Stain in Romantic and the Revlon Lip Butter in Candy Apple look pretty similar, but the formula is totally different, so they can both stay. I fail at eliminating things! Sheer reds with some sheen are just so fucking pretty, though.