Tag Again! Top 10 Cosmetic Products Right Now

The other tag I got from the knock-out Penelope of Inspired by Beauty was a Top 10 Cosmetics award.  These are my current besties in no particular ranking:

1) Vivo Per Lei Peel ($28 at amazon.com)
2) Origins Vitazing ($35)
3) E.L.F. Personal Blend Foundation in Light ($8)
4) Bare Escentuals Maximum Coverage Concealer Brush ($20)
5) Cherry Culture Lip Balm (free with purchase at cherryculture.com, bubblegum-flavored)
6) Bath & Body Works Liplicious Double Delish Lip Gloss in Peanut Butter & Jelly ($4, bronzey-berry tint and tastes like grape lollies)
7) MAC Lush Amber (lustre) Lipstick ($14.50, LE Semi-Precious Collection, beautiful nude)
8) Rimmel Natural Bronzer in Sun Light ($4)
9) Illamasqua powder blush in Lover ($24)
10) Ojon Damage Reverse Instant Restorative Hair Serum ($25 for 1.7 oz., lightly fragranced of warm spices mmm! Somehow I managed to forget it for the photo... weird)

Friday is tomorrow... huzzah!

Review: NYX Diamond Sparkle Lipgloss, photos, swatches

Sometimes I am quite "clever" with my makeup hoarding justifications. Take, for example, my ordering all 12 in-stock shades of NYX Diamond Sparkle Lipgloss from cherryculture.com.  Just one Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss from Chanel is $32, therefore I can get 7 NYX Diamond Sparkle Lipglosses at $4.25 each... but why not get at least 10 for free shipping?  And only two more colors in stock, so why not just get 'em all?

Left to Right: Beige Sparkle, Walnut Sparkle, Plum Sparkle, Gold Sparkle,
Bronze Sparkle, Ginger Sparkle, Orange Sparkle, Rust Sparkle,
Red Sparkle, Copper Sparkle, Fuschia Sparkle, Pink Sparkle

What first got me lemming these in the first place (besides a general love for NYX), is Goss Makeup Artist Youtube Channel.  Wayne is pretty honest about what products work and what don't, and since he endorsed these I've been wanting to give them a try.  My Ulta doesn't have them, so I had to wait until I felt like placing an order with Cherry Culture. You see, I'm trying to earn a free gift card ;) (justifications...).
The best justification: A Beauty Blog Swatchfest!

Left to Right: Beige Sparkle, Walnut Sparkle, Plum Sparkle, Gold Sparkle,
Bronze Sparkle, Ginger Sparkle, Orange Sparkle, Rust Sparkle,
Red Sparkle, Copper Sparkle, Fuschia Sparkle, Pink Sparkle

Bare Lips

Beige Sparkle

Walnut Sparkle (surprised I like this one!)

Plum Sparkle

Gold Sparkle

Bronze Sparkle (disappointed with the pigmentaton of this one; it's really dark brown in the tube!)

Ginger Sparkle

Orange Sparkle (surprised I like this one, too!)

Rust Sparkle (surprised I don't like this one more)

Red Sparkle (disappointing. I was hoping for a dupe of Hourglass Siren, but it's a fail yet again. Not a bad color if that's not what you're aiming for, though)

Copper Sparkle (not what I'd call "copper" but it's pretty)

Fuschia Sparkle (NYX Mega Shine in African Queen is a better version of this color, IMHO)

Pink Sparkle (not so sparkly, but it's pigmented and pretty)

These are all fairly smooth and pigmented. I detect only a faint, paint-like odor that a lot of pigmented products seem to have (especially eye shadows, in my experience). So, I don't think any fragrance or flavor is added and the pigment smell is nigh on unnoticable.  They are not really sticky, though as they dry down they seem slightly tacky if I press my lips together or mush them around.  They last a few hours, which is pretty great for a gloss (though, I'd almost consider these a liquid lipstick if it weren't for the slip they have). 
I think these are a great bargain and my only complaints (besides wanting the likely more flattering, sold-out colors!) are that they aren't more moisturizing, and they photograph better than they look in person.  While not being gritty, there is something slightly gritty about their appearance in real life.  In pictures, though, they just look lovely and super-shiny.  I don't think someone with lots of lip color options needs these; rather they are not must-haves but nice-to-haves.  I really like the Orange Sparkle and Pink Sparkle, but I tend to gravitate towards these colors over the others.  I see why Wayne (Goss Makeup Artist) recommended them; as a makeup artist, these would be nicely lasting and photograph beautifully for print work.
As far as packaging goes, I prefer the cuter, bow-topped Nyx Mega Shine Glosses (actually, I prefer their cherry scent and heavier texture, too, but they aren't as long-lasting or pigmented).  This packaging sure looks familiar...

The textures of these glosses are nothing alike, if you're wondering.  The E.L.F. Glossy Gloss brush applicator is on the left and the NYX Diamond Sparkle doe foot is on the right.  I think the doe foot works for this gloss but is just slightly too flexible.

Overall, I am happy with these glosses but they don't have that somethin'-somethin' that is likely to make me repurchase (to be honest, usually that extra something is a packaging or flavor/scent bonus that makes using a product that much more fun). I hope you enjoyed this post :)

UPDATE: Seconds after I posted this Musings of a Muse posted a coupon code for 20% off through August 28th at Cherry Culture.  If you're liking these glosses, great time to snap them up!

REVIEW: Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara

Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara is a $10 little wonder with the cutest little mascara brush head. It allows you to reach and enlarge every last tiny wisp of a lash along your bottom lash line with ease. It comes in both black and brown (black shown here).  I don't always try to put regular mascara on my bottom lashes, in part because I fear I'll just make a big tar-like smear down there and ruin my concealer work, but now I might be tempted to rock the Twiggy look of super-long lower lashes every day! How did I live without this before?

without

Eyes: TFSI, NARS Grand Palais Eye Shadow Duo, E.L.F. Studio Blush in Gotta Glow as highlight, Clinique Black Honey Cream Liner on upper lashline, MAC Zoom Lash Mascara on upper lashes

Cheeks: NARS Grand Palais dusky rose shade as blush, E.L.F. Gotta Glow as highlight

with

Eensy weensy brush! Beautiful tube! <3

Well played, E.L.F. - Customer Service Success

I signed up on E.L.F. to recieve an e-mail when their NARS Albatross dupe (and last Studio blush I had to collect) "Gotta Glow" came back in stock.  Well, immediately upon recieving the e-mail that it was back in stock I placed an order (July 20th).  Imagine my disappointment when my box arrived sans Gotta Glow on July 29th.  There was a note in the box that I wasn't charged for the products that had been out of stock, but checking my statement I had, in fact, been charged ($3 but it's the principle of the thing!).  I was pretty P.O.'d because I wouldn't have placed an order at all had Gotta Glow not been back in stock, so I wrote their customer service this e-mail:

The Gotta Glow blush was left out of this order and the packing slip said if the item is circled it is out of stock but you were not charged for the items that did not ship, however, I was charged for the item. I should have a $3 refund against this order. I am upset about this because I actually placed the order because those were back in stock according to your company's e-mail. Apparentely, demand was too high, but I shouldn't have been charged for that blush. Please refund me my $3. Thank you, Sarah S.

I got a form letter in response the next day so I didn't hold much hope for getting my blush or money back, but two days later I got this semi-form e-mail:

Thank you for your interest in elf cosmetics.
We apologize for this discrepancy. At this time we do have this item in stock, 83139 Gotta Glow. Please specify if you wish for us to reship the items or refund your credit card.

Well, of course I wanted to Pokemon collect 'em all, so I answered immediately "Send the blush!"

Later that same day I got a response (excellent!): We apologize for the item(s) missing or damaged from your order.
We are sending the item(s) to you as quickly as possible and apologize for any inconvenience.

I got a shipping notice e-mail two days later on August 3rd and the blush arrived yesterday, August 8th.  What is rumored on the internet to be a mess (E.L.F. customer service) actually turned out just fine!

Well played, E.L.F. You're definitely keeping this customer!

Disclaimer: I order a lot of stuff online and I get a messed up order from any given company every month or so.  It's kind of the norm... I think what matters is how the company handles it to keep your business.

REVIEW: E.L.F. Warm Bronzer and Golden Bronzer... "Bronzer"? Not so much.

All right, it's Saturday at last! DH and I slept in until 10:30 (ah, I remember back when I slept in 'til noon, but when your usual wake-up time is 5:30, five hours later is probably enough!)  On days when I can sleep in I don't really need much help from makeup to achieve a bright-eyed, glowing face, but for the other 300 days in a year it helps to turn to bronzer, blush, and highlighter/illuminator.
Fridays can be the worst.  I have the long week of sleep deprivation behind me, so I thought I would give these E.L.F. bronzers in Warm and Golden a whirl.

Sorry, they look identical in this picture! Warm is on the left, Golden on the right. 

Allow me to get right to the point.  IMHO, these are NOT bronzers.  For me, a bronzer doesn't just impart a glow, but it darkens the skin (preferably to a natural, tan color, though many lean orange).  On the plus side, neither of these had orange to them.  Each quadrant shade looked a bit different from the others when swatched.  When swirled and heavily swatched Golden definitely looked less pinky-peach than Warm, however...

E.L.F. Warm Bronzer, each quadrant swatched then swirled together to the right

E.L.F. Golden Bronzer, each quadrant swatched then swirled together to the right

I'm only NC25 and I haven't really gotten a tan this summer... these barely show up!  At least, they are a little bit different from each other.

Top Row is Golden, Bottom Row is Warm

I couldn't get the level of pigmentation shown on my hand to translate to my cheeks with any myriad of brushes (even eyeshadow brushes), and the hand swatches are all finger-rubbings, and nobody wants to finger-rub their face products!

On my cheeks, I couldn't tell one bronzer from the other, as their difference in depth was so minor.  Both did, however, impart a fine shimmer glow that I tried out a few ways:  applied just to cheeks, applied all over, and applied just as highlight on cheekbones.  I'd recommend these just on the tops of cheekbones, but you really don't need both of them.  If you want an all over sheen to the face, these actually do a decent job of that while evening out skintone imperfections though it's definitely a made-up look I'd save for evening.  The powders' sheen surprisingly didn't highlight my pores or fine lines much (I think they  managed to achieve more of a "blurred imperfections" effect).  On cheeks, it looks like I covered my blush with my regular facepowder to mute it.  This is actually useful to correct an accidental over-application of a pigmented blush (I tested this to see if it would work with Illamasqua Lover, and it worked a charm).  An anti-clowncheeks solution!

The packaging seems nice and sturdy, the mirror is large, and these look like they cost more than $3 for sure.  They were simply categorized improperly, if you ask me.  They make really good highlighting/finishing powders in the spirit of YSL Touche Eclat.  You don't need these if you have a separate powder highlighter, but I still think it's nice to have one of them.