E.L.F Cranberry Nail Polish v Ciate Paint Pot in Dangerous Affair

When I was in the shop today, I noticed the November issue of Marie Claire. I instantly grabbed it to see what the free gift was, since that's my favorite part about buying magazines, hehe. Upon realizing that it was a free Ciate nail polish, I decided to buy it. I noticed that the color looked exactly like the E.L.F Cranberry Nail Polish currently on my fingernails, but I wanted it anyways!

So have I found a dupe? By golly, I think I have! (sorry).

Sure, the Cranberry polish has a bit of glitter while Dangerous Affair doesn't, but on such a dark color, you don't even notice, unless you put your face right up to your finger nails, and let's face it ladies, we don't do that, do we?

And okay, yes, Dangerous Affair is slightly more shiny....which almost makes me prefer it, except for the fact that it retails for 9 pounds whereas the Cranberry nail polish is only 1.50! And I had to apply 3 coats of each so I can't say the Ciate nail polish is really any better quality than the E.L.F one.

The Ciate brush / long and round handle certainly do make application easier as opposed to E.L.F's squared one, but hey, I can deal with that.

Overall, I'm not inclined to shell out the 9 pounds for the Ciate nail polish just because it's shinier and has a cute little bow on it, and I recommend if you want either, you go for the cheaper alternative of E.L.F's Cranberry.

*Note: I wrote this before I actually went to take the photos, and when I put my nails under the studio light, I realized Dangerous Affair became quite red. x_x But the thing is, it doesn't look this red unless you get into bright light, as you can see from the photos above. See how red it gets in the light!?:

But take my word for it, in regular light it doesn't look that red. That's underneath an actual studio light used for photography etc etc, lol, so it's rather bright.

Besides, Cranberry went quite red under the light as well, see?:

So what do you guys think? DUPE?

September Favorites

Face Products:

MeMeMe Blush Me! in Coral, Rimmel Hide the Blemish Concealer in Sand, e.l.f Bronzer, and Rimmel Stay Matte in Champagne.

I've been using the MeMeMe blush quite a bit and do think it's a very flattering color for the cheeks.

The Rimmel concealer and powder are all I do in terms of foundation, and it's what I'm constantly using. Even though I plan on trying out Bare Minerals, this concealer and powder duo are lovely when you want a light foundation and will be missed, IF I do switch over to Bare Minerals.

I've been using the e.l.f bronzer lightly all over my face to "tan" it up a little. It adds a very subtle hint of color, which I love and I don't end up looking like Snooki. And in my book, that's always a plus. ;)

Eye Products:

Sleek Original Palette and Urban Decay Naked Palette.

Since I received the Naked palette, I've been using it every day. Before that, I was using the Sleek palette, especially the two green colors that I've starred down below:

Can't say enough about both of these products, but you've heard it constantly I'm sure, so...I'll stop. =P

Lip Products:

The Body Shop Lip Butter in Cherry and Revlon Matte Lipstick in Pink Pout.

I adore the smell of the lip butter and it moisturizes the lips quite nicely and adds a nice baby pink tint to them as well.

I also love love love the lipstick! Such a pretty nude pink color.

Skin&Hair Products:

Simple Face Wipes and Batiste Dry Shampoo.

The Simple wipes are great for cleaning my face at night and anything with "oil balancing" in the name has me sold. They're always handy to have as well when it comes to cleaning off makeup swatches, hehe. Ohh the messes beauty bloggers make.

I know I wasn't crazy about this shampoo at first, but it has saved me a couple of times when I haven't had time to shower or the shower broke -grumbles- or I just plain ol didn't feel like it. It definitely helps make the grease disappear.

What's your favorites of the month? Any of these!?

Paperchase Goodies!

I went into a huuuge Paperchase the other day and couldn't help but pick up some goodies, especially because I did actually need some notebooks/sketchbooks for university. And come on, HOW CUTE ARE THEY? The one in the middle was 7.50 and the ones on the outside are 3.00 each. Not cheap, but not hugely expensive either. I'm already making good use of them too! Being studious and such, haha.

I then picked up this gift box for 2.50, because I needed something to store my face makeup in. I'd been using one of the drawers on my makeup case for eyeliners/mascaras/face stuff, and it was getting too cluttered for my liking. This is one sturdy gift box, so I figured it was perfect!

(check out that Boots bag chillin in the background)

Do you like Paperchase too? I have an obsession with stationary...right after my love for makeup, lol.

e.l.f Pre-Launch: Lipsticks

If you're from the UK, you might of noticed the e.l.f website has a new stock of lipsticks, only 1.50 each!! Apparently it's limited stock, so I'm really tempted to grab some...but I'm holding back for the moment.

There's 6 new colors: fantasy, classy, seductive, gypsy, voodoo, and posh.

So what do you think? What colors do you want? I kind of want them all..but sssh. Hehe.

Small Haul!

So I lied, and spent more money, haha, but I just picked up some work hours for this year, so I figured I'd celebrate by spending the money I wasn't making yet, LOL. Good logic, eh?

At WH Smith I picked up this letter holder to use to store my eyeshadow palettes. Sadly, I could of done with two, since I can't fit them all in (poor Kat Von D and Sleek Palette) but it's a start!

It fits my two e.l.f palettes and my Naked palette.

Then I picked up these goodies from Superdrug. LOOK AT THE STICKY CRAP ALL OVER THEM. I finally managed to get most of it off after trying nail polish remover + hot water + elbow grease, but they're still a lil sticky. Wtf Superdrug? What's with that uber secure packaging? Lol. Not cool.

Revlon Lipgloss in Nude Lustre

Since my nude lipgloss from e.l.f disappointed me, I thought I'd try a different one. It's clearly not THAT nude of a color, but I didn't want a concealer lipgloss either, lol.

On me lips:

MeMeMe Beat The Blues in Moonbeam

Ever since I fell in love with the MeMeMe coral blush, I've been wanting to try out more of their items, including the highlighter.

Bourjois Blush in Rose D'or

I've heard good reviews on these blushes, and it looked too pretty to pass up.

Both the highlighter and blush on me:

Then I popped into Boots....hehe.

Natural Collection Moisture Shine Lipstick in Rose Petal

For a 2 pound lipstick, I'm impressed! It feels like a lip balm but with a tint. It's like a verrry nude pink, so I'm not sure I can pull it off without anything over it.

Soo I paired the lipstick with the Revlon lipgloss I got, and I think it's a good match!:

Simple Kind to Eyes Revitalising Eye-Roll On

My eyes always look a bit puffy when I'm forced up early, and since I've started back up uni and work (AKA early mornings) I figured I'd pick this up. I'll do a proper review on it in a couple weeks, once I've been using it and know properly if it works or not.

And that's all! Hehe. Naughty naughty.

FOTD: Into Town

Just went into town today, because I was bored and felt like looking around. And here's the face I wore! Lol.

Eyes:

Urban Decay Primer Potion

Urban Decay Naked Palette (smog+half baked on the lid, virgin under brow)

Urban Decay Eyeliner in Whiskey (waterline)

Maybelline Lash Stiletto in Black

Lips:

Revlon Matte Lipstick in Pink Pout

The Body Shop Lip Butter in Cherry

Face:

Rimmel Hide the Blemish Concealer in Sand

Rimmel Stay Matte in Champagne

e.l.f Blush/Bronzer Compact (just the bronzer)

MeMeMe Blush Me! in Coral

Prestige Sun Baked Mineral Bronzing Powder in Pure Shimmer (highlight)

The Revlon Matte Lipstick has easily become my favorite go to lip color. With some lip balm underneath, it helps it not feel too dry / overly matte, even if that's the point of it being matte, haha. I've also been using the Naked palette everyday. =)

NOTD: e.l.f Cranberry

Even though I feel like 3 coats for good coverage is a tad excessive, it was only a 1.50 nail polish, and I love the color and it has yet to chip, which is more than I could say for my last NOTD...yes you, O.P.I Suede Lincoln Park After Dark. Speaking of which, look what happened when I was removing it!

It went silver! Took ages to get off too. For something that chips so easily, you'd think it would of come off a bit easier, but anyways, the Cranberry color is a bit darker in person, it looks lighter cos of the flash, so it's the perfect autumn color. =)

What's your favorite e.l.f nail polish colors? Any recommendations?

Some e.l.f goodies!

The other day I ordered just a feeeew things I've been wanting and the package came today. As you can see, not too much, just 5 things. I held back, haha.

Mineral Lip Gloss in Bare

I'm not overly pleased with this item, slightly disappointed actually. I was hoping for a bit more of a nude color and had to apply quite a bit to get any color, but yeah, it'll do! It's not at all sticky, so that's a plus. Lol.

Studio Blush in Gotta Glow

Makes for a lovely highlight, quite happy with this. =)

Nail Polish in Coral and Cranberry

Love both these colors. I picked Coral after seeing it on Christine Iversen's blog and picked Cranberry since it looks like the perfect autumn color. I mean, come on, it's called cranberry. Which, as an American, reminds me of Thanksgiving, hehe. I applied Cranberry to my nails today and will do a NOTD post with it after this. It's quite a dark red color.

Kabuki Face Brush

I've wanted one of these since hearing how well they blend in your blush/bronzer, etc, so I figured I'd get this affordable one from e.l.f. Not bad for 5 pounds. I'ts verrrry soft, cept, is that normal? Does anyone see the random part in it? What's up with that??

Gotta Glow on my face:

And again!:

I want to try some more of their studio blushes, I hear some of them are quite nice. What e.l.f products are your favorites?

Naked FOTD

Figured I'd go for a "natural" naked look in honor of my new Naked palette. I don't know why Blogger makes all my photos go really light but oh welll, I guess the pale vampire look is in, right?

(no flash)

Who likes my polka dotted robe!? Lol. Can you tell I'd just gotten out of the shower? ;)

Since I want to run out + do my e.l.f post, I'm gonna take the easy way out so here's a photo of all the products I used! If you want specific details for any of the products, please feel free to ask.

=)