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Curiously Carmen

ELF Geometric Eyeshadow Book

December 11, 2014

I find that many ELF products are a hit and miss. At insanely cheap prices, I don’t blame them either. In high school, I bought their liquid liner and it reeked so bad of chemical smell that I threw it out. Sometimes, you’ll be able to find amazing, great quality products for under $5 (maybe even under $3!) but other times, you’ll find that the price you paid reflects the quality of the product. Last year, ELF was having a huge online sale and I went absolutely crazy. I can’t remember exactly what the sale was, but I think I only paid $20 for $45-65 worth of product. In fact, I bought so much that I didn’t even open some of the products until now. One of those products was the their 36 Piece Geometric Eyeshadow Book.
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Bear with the snowflakes, I’m sorry if you think it’s tacky but I love them! Once the holiday season is over, they will be gone so don’t worry :). Anyways, the packaging of this eyeshadow packaging is a bit flimsy, I wouldn’t carry this around openly in my bag. It would definitely be a product I leave at home because the book doesn’t have a clapse to close it. There is a magnetic piece to close, but I don’t think it would be that helpful in a purse with other items inside. It is also made out of a thicker cardboard material.
unnamed (1)Here are the colours of the palette. You can tell which ones are my favourite, and which ones I have yet to touch =P There are a total of 36 different shades, but some of the shades are a bit smaller in size. I love this palette because of how many champagne and shimmery gold shades there are! It also comes with a mirror which is a bit handy. It comes with the standard mini sponge brushes, which I haven’t used yet.

unnamed (2)Because I love golden/champagne tones so much, here is a close up on them! There are enough colours in here to create many looks! The colours on the palette were not edited, I just added some border effects. I found the colours to be pretty pigmented, and they were also very glittery and sparkly. The only thing I didn’t like was that there was a lot of fallout. I noticed after that my cheeks had a lot of sparkle on them after I applied this.
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Anddd here is the finished look! 🙂 This look was my first time trying out this palette, and I was in a bit of a rush. Otherwise, I would have created a deeper smokey eye look!   For the price that I paid, the pigment was pretty rich and vivid! Personally, eyeshadow doesn’t last a long time on my eyelids so I have to use my Urban Decay primer potion beforehand. Because of this, I’m not sure how long it will last without primer.

I also used the Dollywink liquid liner (thinking of writing on this too!) Lancome Hynose Star marsacara, Urban Decay Naked Skin foundation, Bare Minerals matte powder foundation, and Makeup Forever lipstick. I wore this out for four hours at a holiday party and it did not smudge with my primer on. It came off easily with my makeup remover.

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Last weekend, I decided to try it out again! I had a cold and wanted my eyes to seem brighter. This time, I used both the ELF palette and Naked 2 palette. Again, I was satisfied with the application and pigment, but there was a lot of fallout.

I would recommend ELF palettes to those who are just starting out with makeup, and are unsure if they would like to invest in an expensive eyeshadow palette. For under $10, it’s a decent palette with great shades, the eyeshadow looks are almost endless too with 36 different colours to choose from. The only annoying thing about it is the fall out.

Also, I mentioned above about the first ELF product I bought that reeked really badly of chemicals… it is the eyeliner here. The horror!

-Carmen


Filed Under: eyes, makeup Tagged: beautiful, beauty, beauty advice, beauty blogger, beauty community, beauty favourites, beauty guru, cheap makeup, ELF, eye makeup, eye routine, eyeshadow, eyeshadow palette, how to apply eyeshadow, makeup, makeup blogger, makeup looks, pretty, sale, sale makeup

If I had a million dollars… (Fall 2014 Beauty Wishlist)

November 21, 2014

It’s holiday season again, my favourite time to buy and stock up on makeup products. Every time this year, I love going into Sephora and seeing what type of holiday gift sets or products they have. Of course, this year is no different and there are so many beautiful products already released/being released. I just wanted to share my top three dreamy picks this holiday season so we can all marvel and stare longingly at their beauty while wishing we all had these. I probably won’t be buying all of these because I don’t have that much money, but a girl can dream and virtually share their beauty….

3. La Belle Carousel – Too Faced

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I first saw this in my one too many visits to Sephora and fell in love with the packaging. To be honest, when I first saw this, I didn’t even know what type of products were in here… I was just very captivated by the packaging and the way it was marketed. I loved the romantic and classical look of the packaging…and come on, who doesn’t like carousels? Too Faced made the packaging so dreamy and beautiful. Upon further glance and investigation, I found out that it contains a variety of stunning eyeshadow shades, bronzers, blushes, and their Better Than Sex mascara.

 

 

 

 

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Realistically speaking, I wonder if it is hard to re-package it to its original carousel shape after opening. Because of this reason, the carousel doesn’t seem too practical but it is certainly perfect to marvel at. But at $59 Canadian, you pay a hefty price for something that is just a pretty, novelty piece of decoration. Even if you used it everyday, I highly doubt that you’ll have the time and patience to restore it to its original beauty and should probably stick with their regular makeup palettes. Which is why when I rationally think about it, I know I’m better off without it and probably won’t get it… but it is so pretty to look at!

 

 

2. Naked on the Run – Urban Decay

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Number two on my list is the new Naked palette, Naked on the Run by Urban Decay. Each holiday season, Urban Decay releases a makeup palette and this year, it is the Naked on the Run. I guess they got tired of releasing Naked 1, Naked 2, Naked 3…haha! It hasn’t even been released yet but every time Urban Decay posts a picture of this on Instagram, my face looks like the heart eyes emoji. I love the shades and vibrancy in my Naked palettes, and I’m sure these will not disappoint as well. I also love their eyeliner, and have yet to open the perversion mascara. This palette would be perfect to bring around as it holds an eyeliner, mascara, lipstick, eye shadow, blush, and bronzer! This product is more practical than the carousel. Can’t wait for the release!

1. Modern Muse – Estee Lauder

Muse_Chic_480x450

To be honest, I fell in love with Estee Lauder’s new Aerin fragrance first but after I was told that it was only sold in one exclusive location in all of Vancouver, I walked around the Estee Lauder counter and saw this. I remember being introduced to this at the 2014 fall media preview event but it didn’t have that much of an effect on me as the Aerin fragrance did, I still really liked the scent of Modern Muse though. Fast forward two months, we were united again and as I sprayed the tester on the piece of fancy cardstock paper, I found myself slowly forgetting about the Aerin fragrance and liking this one a lot. It is described as “lush floral woody” and I would be lying if I said I knew what that smelled like. In my own words instead, it had a very light, floral scent to it that I could see myself wearing quite often. My favourite part of the scent was the jasmine notes in it. I love jasmine tea more than any other green tea, so naturally I was drawn to the strong jasmine and flowery smell. I’ve been thinking about getting is for a few weeks now, and I’m probably going to buy this very soon because I can’t stop thinking about it.

There you have it! The top three beauty products I am currently lusting over right now. I probably won’t be getting the Too Faced carousel because it’s pretty impractical, it’s just nice to look at! What are your top 3 wants right now?

-Carmen


Filed Under: body, eyes, face, lips, makeup Tagged: beautiful, beauty blog, beauty blogger, beauty guru, beauty heaven, beauty review, blush, bronzer, estee lauder, eyeshadow, eyeshadow palette, eyeshadow set, fragrance, makeup, makeup heaven, makeup lover, makeup of the day, makeup review, perfume, pretty, too faced, urban decay

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Hi and welcome to Curiously Carmen! I am Carmen, the girl behind the blog. You can read more about me here!

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