ELF Jumbo Eyeshadow Sticks: FAQ

I got a bunch of questions about the ELF Eyeshadow sticks, so I wanted to get this little Faa posted before anything else in my queue posts. Also, I am at school, typing from my Kindle Fire so I apologize for any formatting mishaps and grammatical errors.

1. Do you wear primer with them?


Yes. Mark Primed for Perfection is what I’ve been using, which is more a matte primer rather than a liquid-y one. I’ve yet to try it out with my primer potion of ELF primer, but I’m sure it works just as well. I just happen to like my Mark primer because it can be used as an eyeshadow easily. I really hope they come out with a shade similar to Nyx’s Milk because you could use it as a base and probably (depending on your lids) get away with not using primer at all.

2. Creasing?

With primer, my colors stayed 5+ hours before noticeably creasing. I have slightly hooded lids, so there’s an obvious amount of crease just from that. Without primer, I noticed that the lighter shades I own such as Little Miss Thing and French Lace faded out after a while. But, Turkish Coffee and Rock Out didn’t budge.

3. Do they dry up/get flaky?

No. So far, I’ve worn these shades a total of four times since I’ve gotten, even wearing them today at school, not once have they gotten dry or flaky. I have fairly oily lids, which is also why I tend to lean more towards matte primers. So, my biggest advice is primer. Finding a primer that works with your type of lid. If you’ve never tried a primer I think a really good starter one to check out would be ELF’s dollar primer. It’s a dollar and it’ll help you find out what kind of primer will be well off on your lid.

4. Blending ability?

These blend very well. You can blend them with your fingers or a blending brush very easily, and yes, they do layer with each other well. I think these are actually a lighter formula than the Nyx pencils. I forget that I am wearing them, which I think is nice. You can achieve dramatic looks without feeling like your eyelids are heavy of makeup and without using a lot of product. They also hold powder very well. I’ve put a matter brown over the Turkish Coffee color before, and it holds the colors very nicely in a breathable manner that still allows you to blend. These are very versatile.

5. Is there a drying time before you can layer another color?

Since these are a stick, they’re not as creamy or “wet” as you’re probably thinking. So, no, I haven’t found that they need any time to dry before applying another color.

6. Watery outer corner of eyelids?

Dude! I have this problem too. Well, had. Though my lids are still oily and do get watery on the outer and inner corners. I’ve found a solution. Before I do my eye makeup, I take an oil blotting sheet and blot both of my eyes. Then proceed to put on primer, which I’ve found if I alternate between using a more matte primer and my other “wet” primers, it helps my lids out in the oil/watery department. Another trick is to just put extra primer on the spots that you notice losing color/getting more watery. It totally helps, I swear. I know Mark isn’t exactly cheap always, I think my primer was like $38, but I do know Wet n’ Wild had a similar primer that comes in a pot, and so does Nyx. :)



Again, there are 10 different shades of these eyeshadow sticks and they are $2.00 each. They’re definitely worth it. :) If you have any other questions or comments, leave em below in the comments.

Love, Noralee

Swatches: ELF Jumbo Eyeshadow Sticks

 These are from ELF's new products. They are $2.00 and come in ten shades.
From the right these are: French Lace, Rock Out, Little Miss Thing, and Turkish Coffee.

 Little Miss Thing is on the left, below that Rock Out.
Turkish Coffee on the right, below that French Lace.

Honestly, I really love these. They are ridiculously pigmented, have nice staying power, and blend WELL. I really like wearing French Lace as a base (because they do not have a white like Nyx's Milk yet, which sucks, but hopefully they'll get one!), and then Little Miss Thing over the lid, and Turkish Coffee in my crease, outer v, and lower lash line. I'll try to post a photo of this sometime soon so ya'll can see how that looks. I think they look great together. :)

These are totally a steal at $2.00, seriously! Check them out before the colors start going out of stock!

Love, Noralee

Swatches: ELF Jumbo Lip Gloss Stick.

This is from ELF's newer line of products. These are $2 and come in eight different shades.

I got "In the Nude" and "Tiki Torches."

These are really creamy and pigmented. I'm definitely going to buy more of them soon.

Love, Noralee

Things to come:

Hey ya'll. :)

I've gotten things fixed up around the house, so I'll probably be posting a hugeeee collective haul of all the things I've been hinting at in posts lately. ;p It'll be rad and fun.

Tomorrow I'm cramming for a Lit test, so my Snippets Sunday might be frumpy and wired with caffeine. Haha. :) Speaking of school, I'm doing a project for my Humanities class on sexual assault and if ya'll could take this short (seriously 10 quick questions) survey, it'd mean a lot to me. Did I mention it is completely anonymous? YEP! And the link can be found, here.

I recently ordered some from the new line from ELF, so stoked about that stuff! If you haven't seen their new products, you should, here. And if you don't know about ELF, they're an amazing make up company with great prices. :)

ALSO! I have most of the product reviews I mentioned written and in a queue now, so I hope you all enjoy those as they post.

I love all of you and can't thank you enough for reading my blog. :)

Love, Noralee

Freebies: Target's Fall Beauty Bag.

Hey guys! Free stuff = Awesome. :)

Okay, so I didn't even know Target had ever done this? But apparently this is their last "beauty bag." A colleague of mine from one of my classes at school stopped me while I was leaving campus this afternoon and asked me if I had reserved a Target Fall Beauty Bag. She knows that I run this blog, and like to check out all kinds of products. I had no idea what it was, seriously. She gave me the low down though, so I thought I'd make a real quick post so you all can try to reserve one too!

Go to Target Styles on Facebook and like the page, here is a link riiiiight.. here.
After that it will ask for your shipping information, all that, and boom, you will get a beauty bag coming your way in 6-8 weeks. I've never done this through Target before so I have no idea how long it'll actually be, but I do know that I heard they are deluxe sample sizes. So, I'm stoked about that.

I have a "mall haul" type post that I've been working on, but some construction issues have happened at my house as of 8AM this morning, so I wasn't able to come home and finish photographing everything like I thought I would be able to.. Buttt, that will be happening! I got some pretty cool stuff. And tomorrow I'm headed to a fair, so there'll be some nice photo moments, I'm sure.

Thanks for reading and thanks for all the comments. Get yourself a Target Beauty Bag!

You all are amazing. :)

Love, Noralee

Friday Favorites: Makeup Wishlist.

1. LUSH Lip Scrub: the chocolate and sugar one.
2.NYX HD Studio Primer.
3.STILA baked trio eyeshadow.
4. URBAN DECAY Naked 2 palette.
5. KAT VON D True Romance Saint palette.
6. URBAN DECAY Urbanglow cream highlight in Brown Sugar.
7. SEPHORA Matifying Powder in d20
8. ELF Stippling Brush.

What's on ya'lls make up wishlists lately?

ALSO, I have some more product reviews coming soon. (:

Love, Noralee!

ELF Lipstain in Crimson Crush

This is a lip stain from ELF, it is $2.00. I got mine in Crimson Crush. I love how pigmented it is!

It doesn't dry out your lips, either. It is very light.

I've been having some really cracked lips lately, as you can see. So, if anyone has any suggestions for lip scrubs? I've been looking into Lush, but I'm not too sure just yet.

I really love this. I've already decided that once they have more shades in stock I'll be ordering all of the shades. No lie! This is such a hit and at a really wonderful price. :)

Love, Noralee

ELF Cream Eyeliner Swatches & Small Review

The packaging is kind of small, but the staying power is amazing. So, you wouldn't need to reapply it throughout the day, and a little of it goes an extremely long way.

These swatches stayed on my arm for a long time! I used a Nutrogena wipe, nothing. I scrubbed with a brush in the sink, a little bit of movement. Took a long hot shower, scrubbed, finally. And even then it still stained my skin well. I think these have awesome staying power and pigmentation for the fact that they were $3.00 each.

Love, Noralee

Hit or Shit?: ELF's Eyebrow Kit (Medium)

 I've been trying out the ELF Eyebrow Kit, in Medium.

It comes with a dark cream, and light powder. So, typically, I fill my eyebrows in with the dark cream, and then use the light powder as a setting powder for them.

 This is what the color looks like when you build it up. (About 2-3 swatches.)

And this is what it looks like with just one swatch.

I did the swatches like this to show you that almost any shade of brown eyebrows light or dark could be used with this one kit. I like that there are options with this product. Some days all I do is take the powder and dust it into my eyebrows and go, those are just days when I know I'm going to be sweaty and in a hurry all day, but I don't want naked brows. Haha. And, the fact that you can build it up to a much darker shade is awesome, because I used this kit to fill in a young lady's brows for her senior photos when I was doing a shoot for her. Her brows were black, and I was able to build up this kits pigment easily to shade her brows in.

I think this kit is a hit for the price, it's from ELF's studio line, therefore $3.00.

Though, some days I gravitate back towards my pencil because it is quick and easy. I will say that sometimes with a pencil lines and get a little harsh by accident, and that is never the case with this kit. 

Love, Noralee 

Fall Wishlist.

1. Infinity scarves! I love my printed one I recently wore in my Face of the Day post.
2. Sephora's Sugar Kiss Lip Treatment. I love the duo minis I got for my birthday, and I'd really like to try out this coral one.
3. Lace dresses! This H&M one is gorgeous.
4. Sephora's Moonshadow Baked palette in - In The Nude. It is so gorgeous.
5. Riding boots! In brown of course. :)
6. Nyx Matte Lipsticks. This one is in Pale Pink.
7. These gorgeous organic heart shaped plugs. I have about three more stretches until I'll be where I want to be, and then I will purchase myself these beauties.
8. Bath & Body Works candles, particularly the Autumn scented one. I smelled it at the store recently and fell in love.
9. Kat Von D's True Romance palette in, Saint.

Thanks for reading! What are ya'll looking forward to this fall? And what is on your wishlist?

Love, Noralee

Beauty on a Budget: Wet n' Wildd Matte Lipsticks.

These lipsticks are by Wet n' Wild, which I don't typically buy products from them, however I was pleasantly surprised by these.

They do not say they are matte anywhere on the packaging or display, however when you apply them they are definitely matte. I love the way they look, it's almost like a stain, but they do not dry out your lips. These run at about $1.90 at Walmart. I bought the pink one first, then a guy friend of mine picked out the red one with me when I drug him shopping a few days ago. He's silly, but I actually really ended up liking the color he chose.




These are really affordable lipsticks with wonderful staying power! Totally a hit in my book. :)

-Noralee

Drugstore palettes.

On the top left: ELF's Beauty Book in "Cool." Middle front: L.A Colors in Neutral
Right: It didn't have a brand on it, just said, "Tablet palette"

ELF: Okay, I think I will talk about the ELF Beauty Book in a haul video or a later post, because I purchased it for my sister, and I want to see how she uses it and likes it. She let me swatch the colors, and I personally found them very chalky, especially the matte finishes. However, the price was only $2.75, so the amount of shimmer shades that are not chalky, are worth the price, I'd say. But, again, I'd like to see how she uses it.

L.A Colors: I picked this and the Tablet palette up at the Dollar Tree. I immediately grabbed the L.A Colors palette because of all the browns. I love to wear neutrals. I keep my make up very natural during my daily life. There are two matte shades, the white and the brown right next to it. They are somewhat chalky, but are SUPER pigmented. I've been using the white as a highlight, and I love the way it blends into my skin. All of the browns are very pretty, and I will have swatches up, either in another post, or in a video. I say this is a total hit for me.

Tablet: All the packaging on this said was, "tablet palette," because up close it is made to look like a kindle fire tablet or just a really large iPhone. It is actually the size of my Kindle Fire. Haha. Honestly the as soon as I took the first swatch I was literally shocked. The consistency of the eyeshadow is so creamy and soft. It blends easily, and has AMAZING staying power. The four lipglosses, are actually not glossy at all. They are totally lip stains. I've used all of them now, applied with my lip brush. I like the red one the most because it stains the best. The pinks end up looking like my regular lip color. In the middle is a blush with a bunch of shades in it. When blended together, it's a nice earthy tone. I think my only complaint is that because of the smaller size of it and the fact that the lip products are around it, I find myself having a hard time getting my blush brush to pick up any product without getting it all over the lip products. So, there's a con. I'll just stick with my Nars blush, I guess. :) I don't know where this mystical Dollar Tree palette came from brand wise, but it is wonderful. The colors are beautiful, and the consistency is to die for, no joke. Swatches to come. Totally a hit for me.

I'm sorry I rushed these without swatches, but I just wanted to get them posted before all my sephora and elf products came in, and these have been sitting on my desk for a week now waiting for me to photograph and post. Haha. :)

- Noralee