E.L.F. Beauty Book Swatches

Fortune Cookie Fortune of the Day: "May life throw you a pleasant curve."

So I went into my local Target the other day shopping for kitty litter and milk. Of course, I also planned to peruse the E.L.F. cosmetics section for one or two small items. ;-) Happy surprise!!!!!! Target has a new E.L.F. endcap display full of fun tools, brushes, and cosmetics, in addition to their regular E.L.F. display. Upon seeing this, I was so excited, I immediately whipped out my phone and took a picture to send to my friend, and fellow E.L.F. addict, Heather. No, I was not the least bit embarrassed to stand there taking pictures of the E.L.F. display, although the red-shirted employees were giving me strange looks indeed. I just couldn't contain myself when I saw that the Beauty Books were there! I've been dying to try the Sparkle Eye Edition Beauty Encyclopedia, but the Eye Brights Beauty Book is the next best thing...and here it was in my shopping cart (along with its little friend, the Neutral Eye Beauty Book)! The Beauty Book contains the same 12 eyeshadow colors and Eye Brightening Eyeliner as the Eye Edition Beauty Encyclopedia, minus the two cream shadows, but with the addition of a mirror. All of this for the bargain price of $5!!! http://www.target.com/s/ref=sr_related_4/189-1362516-6935434?ie=UTF8&keywords=elf%20cosmetics

First of all, let me say that the colors of both the Neutral and Eye Brights palettes are gorgeous...which you might have guessed already, since I'm so excited about them. However, the Eye Brights palette contains 10 Urban Decay dupes! Betcha' didn't know that!!! The Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland palette, released earlier this year, is in high demand for both Urban Decay devotees, as well as fans of Alice in Wonderland, and has sold out completely from the Urban Decay website. You can still find these palettes on ebay for around $200. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310225589185&rvr_id=&crlp=1_263602_263622&UA=WKF%3F&GUID=e0f645101290a0aad3773d27ffa975f9&itemid=310225589185&ff4=263602_263622

Seven of the shades in the Alice in Wonderland palette are duplicated almost exactly in the E.L.F. Eye Brights Beauty Book...for $5! Looking at it another way, many of the Alice in Wonderland shades are just renamed shades from Urban Decay's Ammo Shadow Box, and ALL 10 shades in the Ammo Shadow Box are duplicated in the Eye Brights Beauty Book. The Ammo Shadow Box retails for $36, and contains much smaller pans of shadow than the E.L.F. Beauty Books offer. http://www.urbandecay.com/products/EyeshadowAmmo.cfm

Judging by the apple-printed price labels, I believe that Target is only offering the Beauty Books, as well as the rest of the items on the new display, for a limited time (i.e. "Back to School"). So get out there as soon as you can to take advantage of the new selection. Of course, you may order the Beauty Encyclopedias from http://www.eyeslipsface.com anytime, but if you just can't wait for shipping, and you don't mind losing the two cream shadows from the Beauty Encyclopedia editions...get out to Target today for the Beauty Books!

Here are the swatches from both palettes (I used the E.L.F. Eyelid Primer [or in this case, "Forearm Primer" ;-) ] from the $1 line under each swatch):

First, the Neutral Eyes Beauty Book:

The colors in the palette

Top Row (the line on the far right is the eyeliner swatch in "Coffee.")

Second Row

Third Row

And now, the Eye Brights Beauty Book:

The palette


A closer view of the colors

First Row with eyeliner swatch in "Black" on far right.
Urban Decay eyeshadow dupes from left to right (Ammo Shadow Box name listed first/Alice in Wonderland Palette name listed second): 1. Polyester Bride/White Rabbit , 2. Sin/Drink Me Eat Me, 3. Grifter/Curiouser, 4. Chopper/Chessur.


Second Row
UD dupes from L to R: 1. Maui Wowie/Wonderland, 2. Mildew (Ammo Shadow Box only),
3. Shattered (Ammo Shadow Box only), 4. Smog (Ammo Shadow Box only).


Third Row
The light silver and purple shades are not Urban Decay dupes, as far as I know. The last two are dupes of Last Call/Queen and Oil Slick/Jabberwock.

So there you have it! Beautiful colors, beautiful price! Thank you, as always, for stopping by my blog! It means so much to me!

Looking hot when it's HOT! Summer wedding edition...

"You like sunshine and fresh air." - Fortune Cookie Fortune of the Day

Not a fortune really...but it was inside my fortune cookie, nonetheless! And it's true; I do love sunshine and fresh air...who doesn't? However, too much sunshine and fresh air, particularly if that air is hot and humid, can cause major makeup meltdown! In this week's youtube video, I show you a look that is very subtle and hot weather-friendly, yet special enough to wear to an occasion such as an outdoor wedding.

And while you're here...here are a few key tips for hot weather makeup:

1. Don't overdo it with powder. It seems like mopping up sweat and oil from your face by reapplying powder throughout the day would be helpful. It is actually counterproductive as it tends to cake up on your face and look like a mask. It also settles into fine lines for those of you (us!) that have them. Not good! Use blotting papers instead.

2. Keep all of your makeup (eyes, cheeks, lips) in the same color family and keep everything fairly neutral and natural. You want to make the effects of sweating much less noticeable, as opposed to wearing heavy, dark makeup and having it melt off in an obvious way. You don't want to leave an event looking completely different from when you arrived there!

3. Think shimmer and not sparkle. Keep glitter to a minimum, but if all of your makeup has a slight shimmer to it, it will all blend nicely together should a meltdown happen.

Check out Part 2 of the youtube tutorial for additional tips!