Rimmel London Gloss Lip Liner review!

I was browsing around my grocery store where I work, and stumbled accross these little babies, the Rimmel London Gloss Lip Liner, for 99 cents for a pack of 2. I do work in a discount store, so normal retail price may be higher. I have never been a big lip liner person (unless its for a bold lip). But I figured for 99 cents, I would give these guys a try! I picked up 2 packs, so 4 lip liners. The colors are Hot Spark, Be a Star, Sorbet, and Moreish. Here are some swatches to start off:

Top to bottom: Sorbet, Moreish,Hot Spark, Be a Star

I've never tried a gel lip liner before, the texture is quite interesting. When I tried them on the lips, I lined my entire lip then filled them. These have the texture of a lipstick and gloss combined, the definitely have a nice glossy shine, although they do tend to set and lose a bit of their *gloss* over time and become more matte. . I personally have worn them alone and with a lipstick. They go on incredibly smooth and feel quite nice on the lips. The staying power isn't as great as it could be- but I blame that on the *gloss* quality of these. I just don't think anything  with a *glossy*  texture is going to have great staying power on the lips because most people are constantly talking, and moving the mouth. But then again - I seem to have trouble getting ANY kind of lip product to stay on for more then an hour. So perhaps I'm a little bit negatively biased towards a lot of lip products. They are all quite glossy looking, but some are definitely moreso then others. Even though the staying power isn't fantastic for me, I still enjoy the texture and look of the product on the lips.

My BIGGEST pet peeve with this product IS because it is a glossy liner. Being such a soft alomst gel like consistency, these pencils are gonna wear down rather quickly, and need to be sharpened a lot! Just after one use of lining and filling in my lips, the original tip was worn about half way and obviously no longer sharp. Most lip liners have a bit more solidity therefore they last longer.

I had a lot of trouble finding this product on other websites, there are a few on amazon. This product isn't even listed on Rimmel's website. I'm thinking this may be a discontinued product.

I don't think this is a *horrible* product per say, but I understand why it didn't exactly take off. The pencils have great color pay off, great texture, but really lack on the staying power- which is a huge downside because a lip pencil is supposed to make your lipstick LAST longer. So, depending on how you use this product will depend on how much you enjoy it. I'm glad I picked them up, and will probably continue to use them while I have them - but I'm not sure I would have ran out and repurchased them if they were still readily available.

Enough of my rambles, here are some pics of the products on:

Be a Star

Hot Spark

Moreish

Sorbet

Thanks for checking back, and I hope you this review was helpful for you! I have a lot more product reviews and tutorials coming up, I've been battling a horrible bronchitus for a couple weeks now- once I'm 100% back to normal I'm going to get crackin on some new stuff! Hope you stick around and check back in the near future!

Mac Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation Review!

The compact on the outside

The Powder on top

the secret compartment in the bottom with the sponge

Well ladies and gents, I finally did it! I got my hands on some Mac. This stuff is super expensive, but I can see why everyone raves about it! I have super oily skin and this is the absolute perfect foundation for anyone that has it. It is super light weight--I can't even feel it on my skin! The lady at the counter matched me to my perfect shade and she did a FABULOUS job! It blends so naturally and effortlessly into my skin! Basically it makes me look like I was born with amazing skin (which I wasn't ha! --I wish!). You get medium coverage but it is totally buildable for a good full coverage. When I went to the mall yesterday --I went with no make up on my face (just my eye make up) and even without any kind of primer or concealor on my face I still got some really great coverage. today I'm gonna try it with my primer and concealer to cover up my pesky pimples. Anyway this stuff goes on like silk and covers really well. It wasn't too powdery or heavy...basically what I'm getting at is---THIS STUFF IS AMAZING! It costs 26.50 plus tax which is definitely on the pricey side, but if you look at the fact that it takes the place of foundation and powder and concealer (you might need a tad bit more concealer to cover a few bad blemishes or something)..but still you get pretty much everything in one. And it will last you quite a while I'm guessing with the amount of product in the pan. So all in all, I definitely think this is worth the buy...and I have a feeling I'm going to be buying some more MAC products in the future...MAC=love! Definitely check this stuff out if you have oily skin, but be sure to have a Mac consultant match you to you're perfect shade the first time, you won't be disappointed!!

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser for Dark Circles

So I was watching a beauty guru on youtube (makeupbytiffanyD), and I seen her do a review of her favorite foundations and concealers and she mentioned the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser for Dark Circles. She said it did wonders for her under eye circles. I have horrendous under eye circles, I'm not sure if it's from stress, or lack of sleep, or really crappy genetics--but they are bad. My current concealer wasn't really helping much, plus it tended to settle in those fine lines I'm starting to get around my eyes (*shakes fist at father time*). So I was at the store the other day and decided to have a look and see if I could find this stuff. We'll needless to say, I happened upon it, and it is AMAZING! My shade is Fair (#10).  Here's some pics and my full review:

I'm going to start off with the packaging. I was a bit scared of the pouf that is attached to the top. It's one of those twisty containers where you turn it and the product comes out of a sponge at the top. I've always thought these things were pretty unhygenic. I guess this thing is anti-microbial, which I suppose it to help stop the spread of germs and whatnot. So I guess I can overlook that. It took me about 3 minutes of continuous twisting to get the product to come out of the top, which was a pain in the arse, but it eventually came out. I had visions of twisting it too much and half the container coming out! haha! But all worked out well, and I can deal with the packaging. Also the pouf thing at the top is quite smooth so it doesn't tug at the delicate under eye skin.

As for the product itself. It is AMAZING stuff. It is very thin in texture which is nice. It's not thick or creamy..it almost has the texture of a moisturizer. It's also very very pigmented, which is awesome. You don't need much of this product and it covers gloriously! It spreads out evenly and you can't even tell it's there. It's almost silky in texture actually. This stuff does NOT settle in those nasty little lines either! This is probably some of the best concealer I've ever used! It goes on great and lasts all day. I highly recommend this stuff, definitely check it out!!

Holy Haul! It's E.L.F. brushes!

L-R: Blush Brush, Concealer Brush(studio line), Concealer Brush (essential line), Eyeshadow "C" brush, Contour Eye brush, smudge brush (essential line)

Well I received an order today from elf. I ordered their essential set about 2 or 3 months ago, and most of the brushes were pretty good, and quite useful. So they had a great sale (50% off) on their studio line about a week and a half ago and decided to jump on it! I bought 4 from the Studio line, and 2 from the the essential (1 repeat, and one that didn't come in the original set that I bought). From the studio line I bought the blush brush, concealer brush, Eyeshadow "C" brush, contour eye brush. From the essential line I bought the concealer brush and the smudge brush. Once I use these more I will come back with and edit in a review! But for now here is a pic and description of each brush.

They came packaged in their own individual plastic case and the blush brush had it's own little cover on it:

Blush brush with plastic cover

Without plastic cover

This is a very soft, round brush. It's not too densely packed and seems as though it would be perfectly packed for a nice even application of blush to the apples of the cheeks. Would more then likely be very useful for contouring as well.  It has a slightly pointed tip for a more precise application but fluffy enough to blend the color out.

Eyeshadow "C" Brush

This brush is also incredibly soft. Surprisingly it's not as densely packed as the same brush from the essential line. I still think it will work nicely to pack on color to the lid as well as smudge colors in the crease. It has a nice "C" shape at the top and seems to be firm enough to get the job done.

Contour brush (for the eye)

I hear this is an amazing brush, and from the feel of it, I think I'll love it too. It looks like a pencil brush and a blending eye brush had a baby! It's very dense yet still amazingly soft! It's also dome shaped at the top. I think it will be a wonderful crease brush, but I think it'll be nice for blending out color as well! I'm most excited about this brush and the Concealer brush from the studio line.

Concealer Brush (studio line)

Ok I must admit, I bought this brush for a different purpose then what it is labeled for. It's intended purpose is a concealer brush, but I bought it to pack on color to the lid It's firm enough (but has enough give) to nicely pack on color to the lid and have a nice smooth application.  Its not densely packed, but its quite firm and rounded at the top, and incredibly soft!

smudge brush

This is basically a mini version of the essential lines eyeshadow brush. I honestly am not sure what I'm gonna do with this brush but I wanted to have it in my arsenal, just incase. I may use it as some point. It's not super densely packed, but enough that you could do some decent smudge work with it. It's also has a nice curved "C" shape.

This is the only brush that I have a duplicate of. I had received it with my brush set from the essential line. It's supposed to be a concealer brush but it is WAY too tiny for that unless you're only covering a tiny little blemish. BUT I found it to be very useful for filling in my eyebrows. I bought a duplicate to do tiny work work on the eyes. the corners of my lids are kind of hard to get into as well as for the work on the tear duct. Any small area that is difficult to get into with a regular brush. But this way I can use one just for my eyebrows and one for other eye work. Its very stiff and rounded at the top. I found the individual one to not be quite as stiff as the one from the full set

As I said, I haven't really used any of these brushes (other the the essential line concealer brush), so I don't have any information on how well they work for application. But I thought I would give a haul and description of each brush in case anyone is interested.