Liebster Blog Award

Back on May 25th, Avi of PurpleEyeDiamond awarded me the Liebster Blog Award.

And then, on June 6th, Cathy of My Pinktastic Life handed me the Liebster Blog Award as well. Thank you, Cathy! You are a doll and thank you for thinking my blog was deserving of this award!

You can see Cathy's Liebster Blog Award HERE.

Since I had already done this tag, I only chose 3 blogs this time. I just couldn't decide who to share this with. Such amazing blogs out there. (Most of the ones I subbie to have more than 300 followers.)

I am paying the Liebster Blog Award to:
Savvy Beauty
All About Makeup
♥Jenny's Blog♥

These 3 blogs are very deserving of this award. These are blogs that I personally enjoy reading. Take a look at them if you haven't yet because I think that you will like them too.

Luv & Luk,
--L.

♥♥ The images used in this blog post were used with permission. I copied these images from http://www.mypinktasticlife.com/2011/06/and-oscar-ahem-i-mean-blog-award-goes.html ♥♥

Swatches: E.L.F. Mineral Eyeshadows Part Two

Since I got so many different things in my last E.L.F. haul, I thought that it would be better to divide my purchases into categories to make the whole process of viewing swatches a little more organized.

First, I showcased the E.L.F. Lipsticks which you can see HERE.

Next item to show you was the E.L.F. 100 Eyeshadow Palette. You can see that post HERE.

To change it up, I blogged about the Natural Radiance Blushers which I love. Check out that post HERE.

And then some more eyeshadow swatches from the E.L.F. 32 Eyeshadow Palette. Take a peek at those HERE.

I got 10 of the amazing mineral eyeshadows so I divided that into two posts. The first post can be seen HERE.

The first half of the mineral eyeshadows focused more on the neutral colors I got. The browns, bronzes, and golds. This second half is fun. I have blue and purple and green!

E.L.F. Mineral Eyeshadow
Natural Mineral Makeup
Net Wt. 0.003 oz/0.85g
$3.00 each

Swatches with flash.
Left to Right:
Flirty, Beachy, Glamorous, and Confident.

Swatches without flash.
Left to Right:
Flirty, Beachy, Glamorous, and Confident.

Outdoorsy was charged on my invoice but left out of the box by E.L.F.
I sent them an email and the promptly corrected their mistake.
Outdoorsy arrived a few days later.

E.L.F. Mineral Eyeshadow
Natural Mineral Makeup
Net Wt. 0.003 oz/0.85g
$3.00 each

Swatch without flash.

Swatch with flash.

Full face.
On lid: Flirty
In crease: Glamorous
Outer V and lash line: Beachy

Full face.
On cheeks: E.L.F. Natural Radiance Blusher in Shy $1
On lips: E.L.F. Lipstick in Gypsy $1

Again, I am going to tell you how much I love these! I do, I do, I do! They are wonderful. The pigmentation is fantastic. The shimmer in them is so sparkly! They blend beautifully. There is fall out, as there would be with any kind of loose eyeshadow, but it is manageable.

I will say that after my makeup ban is over with, I do plan on getting some more. I want the whole collection now!

So did you like these? Huh, did ya, did ya, did ya?

Luv & Luk,
--L.

♥♥ All the products in this post were bought by me with my own money. I am not sponsored by this company. These are my own thoughts and honest opinions. ♥♥

Swatches: E.L.F. Mineral Eyeshadows Part One

Since I got so many different things in my last E.L.F. haul, I thought that it would be better to divide my purchases into categories to make the whole process of viewing swatches a little more organized.

First, I showcased the E.L.F. Lipsticks which you can see HERE.

Next item to show you was the E.L.F. 100 Eyeshadow Palette. You can see that post HERE.

To change it up, I blogged about the Natural Radiance Blushers which I love. Check out that post HERE.

And then some more eyeshadow swatches from the E.L.F. 32 Eyeshadow Palette. Take a peek at those HERE.

I believe this is the last stint of my E.L.F. haul. Wheew! It was a long series. I just really thought it would help to see more detailed posts on each one. I need to finish this haul soon since I am anxiously awaiting a new addition to my little makeup family. NYX! I placed my first NYX order a while back and it should arrive today via UPS. We'll see. It's already been delayed once. So anyway, I need to finish up my last haul so that I can show you my new goodies when they arrive!

And last, but not least at all, are the E.L.F. Mineral Eyeshadows. This is part one of my dual post on these babies. OMG!

E.L.F. Mineral Eyeshadow
Natural Mineral Makeup
Net Wt. 0.003 oz
$3.00 each

Swatches with flash.
Left to Right:
Angelic, Celebrity, Golden, Sassy, and Socialite.
No base, primer, foundation, or concealer underneath.

Swatches without flash.
Left to Right:
Angelic, Celebrity, Golden, Sassy, and Socialite.
No base, primer, foundation, or concealer underneath.

Full face.
On lid: Golden
In crease: Socialite
Inner tear duct: Angelic

Loved this look. Very natural.
Lipstick: E.L.F. Lipstick in Charming $1
Blush: E.L.F. Natural Radiance Blusher in Glow $1

I cannot even begin to tell you how much I loved these. OMG! Seriously. Way better than I thought they would be. All the shades I got are heavy on the shimmer because that is what I like. E.L.F. does have mineral eyeshadows that are matte and even though I prefer shimmer, I might have to buy some matte ones because the quality of these are amazing. I am in love.

I also have 5 more to show you. I got 10 of them total and for FREE because I had a coupon code for 10 FREE MINERAL EYESHADOWS WITH ANY $25.00 PURCHASE. Such, such a good deal. But these mineral eyeshadows are worth the $3.00!

I will be back later today, I hope, to show you the other 5 equally brilliant mineral eyeshadows. Stay tuned!

Luv & Luk,
--L.

Swatches: 32 E.L.F. Eyeshadow Palette & Countrouring Blush and Bronzing Powder

Since I got so many different things in my last E.L.F. haul, I thought that it would be better to divide my purchases into categories to make the whole process of viewing swatches a little more organized.

First, I showcased the E.L.F. Lipsticks which you can see HERE.

Next item to show you was the E.L.F. 100 Eyeshadow Palette. You can see that post HERE.

To change it up, I blogged about the Natural Radiance Blushers which I love. Check out that post HERE.

And now it is time for some more eyeshadow swatches. This time, they are coming from the E.L.F. Studio Endless Eyes Pro Mini Eyeshadow Palette--Limited Edition in Everyday Classics. 

32 Piece Eyeshadow Collection
Net Wt. 1.1 oz/32g
Regular Price $10.00
I bought mine for $5.00

Pretty shades.
Mostly neutrals but with a few pops of color in there.

Swatches without flash.
No base, primer, concealer, or foundation underneath.
Swatched on my forearm.

Swatches wtih flash.
No base, primer, concealer, or foundation underneath.
Swatched on my forearm.

E.L.F. Studio
Contouring Blush and Bronzing Powder
$3.00

Blushed and Bronzed

Swatches without flash.

Full face.
Wearing the Contouring Blush and Bronzing Powder.
Blushes on the apples of my cheeks.
Bronzed as a contour.

Full face.
Wearing some of the neutral eyeshadows in the 32 palette.
I applied the green shade to my lower lash line just for added color.

I really should swatch all of these eyeshadows because I am more impressed with the quality and pigmentation of these as opposed to the eyeshadows in the 100 palette. All of the swatches I did for this post were so pretty. Except for #4 which to me looked so pretty in the pan. It was a red-brown with glittery specks in it. So sad, it didn't show up well on my arm. #2 even looks like something that came out of my Urban Decay Naked Palette! Most of these shadows have some shimmer to them. I don't mind, I love shimmer shadows!

I had to get this blush and bronzer duo because everyone had this one too. As you know, I always want what the cool kids have! I love it. It is very pretty. I can see why so many of you have this in your arsenal. This one is a keeper. And for those of you who saw my Radiance Blushers post, this duo is not soft like that at all! I guess the extra $2 you spend for this one is worth it!

And again, I am a very satisfied E.L.F. customer here. I love this company.

Please, Pretties, share your thoughts on these products with me. Have them? Want them? Like them? Hate them? Do tell...

Luv & Luk,
--L.

♥♥ All products in this post were bought by me with my own money. I am not sponsored by this company. There are my own thoughts and honest opinions. ♥♥

Swatches: E.L.F. Natural Radiance Blushers

Since I got so many different things in my last E.L.F. haul, I thought that it would be better to divide my purchases into categories to make the whole process of viewing swatches a little more organized.

First, I showcased the E.L.F. Lipsticks which you can see HERE.

Next item to show you was the E.L.F. 100 Eyeshadow Palette. You can see that post HERE.

Now I want to share with you the E.L.F. Natural Radiance Blushers. I got 3 of them and I loved them all!

E.L.F. Natural Radiance Blusher
0.7 oz./2.0g
$1.00 each

Left to Right:
2301 Shy, 2302 Glow, & 2303 Coy

Swatches with flash.
Top to Bottom:
2301 Shy, 2302 Glow, & 2303 Coy

Swatches without flash.
Top to Bottom:
2301 Shy, 2302 Glow, & 2303 Coy

2301 Shy:
Soft pale pink. True pink. No shimmer.
2302 Glow:
Light orange shade. Golden shimmers.
2303 Coy:
Dust rose shade. Mauve with slight shimmer.

Of these 3 shades, I have only previously owned Coy. I fell in love with it. It was my go to blush. Until I dropped it and it was completely pulverized. No chance of saving it's life.

Which brings me to this. They are very soft. Very loosely packed in the pan. You touch your blush brush to it and you get powder flying all over the place. Seriously. The way the packaging opens and closes is a sliding motion which I thought was cool. But mine were hard to slide open AND shut. So when I closed my Glow blush, it closed a little hard and the blush came a little loose. Oookaaay. Nothing major but I don't want to be losing blush this way.

Other than that, I really do like this blush. I loved all of the colors I chose and the price is perfect. I do plan on getting some other shades. I have been using these everyday since I got them.

Have anyone of you tried these? What are your thoughts?

Luv & Luk,
--L.

♥♥ All products in this post were bought by me with my own money. ♥♥

Swatches: E.L.F. 100 Eyeshadow Palette

Since I got so many different things in my last E.L.F. haul, I thought that it would be better to divide my purchases into categories to make the whole process of viewing swatches a little more organized.

First, I showcased the E.L.F. Lipsticks which you can see HERE.

Second thing I want to show you is the item I was most excited to get. The 100 Eyeshadow Palette. 100 eyeshadows!!

So many different colors to choose from. They all looked so lovely. I didn't have any specific shadows to swatch. I just picked the ones that grabbed my attention first.

E.L.F. 100 Eyeshadow Palette
Net wt. 3.7 oz/110g
$10.00

Look at all these pretty colors!
I chose these 8 to swatch because I thought they were the prettiest.

Swatches with flash.

Swatches without flash.

 6 & 8 are amazing! Loving that teal and red shades. But oh my, that 4 really disappointed. I love purple shadows and that one could barely be seen on my forearm. Swatches were done on my bare forearm, no primer, no foundation, and no concealer.

I did this look today using the 100 palette. I used one of the off white shades as a brow highlight. On my lid, I applied a light purple shade and topped it off with a slightly pinker purple shade. In my crease, I used a shimmery silver and the glittery black in my outer "v". You can see that I lined my lower lash line with the vibrant blue shade. I am wearing the E.L.F. Eyelid Primer in this look.

Over all, I did like the colors that I have swatched so far. Some are not as pigmented as others. Really disappointing but they are useable. There are still so many other eyeshadows in this palette that I have yet to even try out. I'm loving it. For the $10.00 I paid for it, it's a steal!

So finally, I had a look to show you, Pretties. I know it's been a while since I've posted any look at all. I should be posting more looks in the future since I am on a buying ban. Let me just finish sharing with you the latest stuff I have gotten. I started my no buy a couple of weeks ago but I still have a couple of things I'm waiting for in the mail.

Until next time!

Luv & Luk,
--L.

♥♥ Products in this post were purchased by me with my own money. ♥♥

My Life as of Late

Hello, my Pretties! It's been far too long...

I've been neglecting my blog and Facebook and Twitter accounts lately and I'm so sorry. I've been up to my eyeballs doing things with my family. So, I hope you all don't mind but I've decided to do a non-beauty blog post today and just share with you what I've been up to this past week or so.

I rarely talk about my family on this blog because I wasn't sure that you all wanted to me to. I'm not sure where you stand on this. Would you rather I stick to strictly beauty posts because it is a beauty blog??

Anyway, for now, I thought it would be nice to share with you a little bit of my private life. I am a very private person but I feel like I have become friends with you all and I'd like you to see another part of me.

 

First off, we had a birthday party for my 5 year old daughter's Kindergarten classmate at Chuck E. Cheese's. It was a last minute thing after school. The girls had so much fun. This is my 18 month old, Zoe Jane, with Barney. She's in love with Barney these days. And by the way, this is her new "smile" she does in every picture. We call it her Chucky face.

The day after, on Wednesday, was Madison's field day at school. Parents were invited so naturally we went. They had moon jumps and water slides, hence the bathing suit. Tons of snacks and candy to buy. The kids were going crazy with so much sun and sugar!

The day after that, Thursday, was the last day of school for Madison Reese. She was so disappointed. She was crying in the morning when I was getting her ready for school. She is such a scholastic person. Loves school! She said she was going to miss her friends and more than her friends, she was going to miss homework! Good thing the teacher gave the students workbooks to keep them going during the summer.

That same night, I had a birthday party to go to for my best friend's son but I also had my sweet-tart's cousin's high school graduation to go to. We went to the graduation because although my BFF is my BFF, Jennifer is family. My BFF is the best so she didn't mind. We went earlier before the graduation ceremony to take her son his gift and spend some time with him. Congrats to all the graduates of 2011! I'm so jealous of you all. You have your whole lives ahead of you. Good luck to you all!

I have no idea what we did on Friday, but on Saturday we took the girls to the beach. Good thing that South Padre Island is about an hour and 20 minutes away. We can go whenever we want. It was such a fun day. Until the storm. LOL. We were all in the water when these black clouds came in so fast. The wind got strong and cool. Then it started to pour! It was crazy! The kids were all screaming and crying. We were trying to hold down the canopy we had taken. After we all hid under the canopy, within 5 minutes the storm was over. The sky was blue, the clouds were white and the sun was out again. We packed up and went home.

As if that wasn't enough, we got up at 5 a.m. on Sunday morning to head up to San Antonio. We always do Six Flags Fiesta Texas on Spring Break but we missed it this year so we decided to go for the summer. We took my mama too since she had never ever been out there. She had a blast!

I love my sweet-tart because he is so good with our girls. He's such a wonderful daddy and partner to me. I am really lucky to have my Juan in my life. He's a doll.

Everything was going perfect at Six Flags. We were about half an hour away from their laser light show right before closing time. I can't believe we were there from open to close. Long day! Anyway, I had taken baby Zoe to see the giant koi fish in the pond when she decided to throw my glasses in the water!! She threw her hands in the air and said, "ba!" I was freaking out. I can't see without my glasses. Well, my sweet-tart went to get help but they couldn't get my glasses back. They said they would mail them out to me if they found them. Thanks but no thanks. I don't think I want them after they've been in a pond.

And now we finally made it back home. I went to the eye doctor first thing Monday morning and got some contacts! Madison got used to doing something fun everyday so now when she wakes up, she asks where we're going or what we're doing. I tell her nothing that we are just going to be home and she gets all upset saying that it's her summer vacation. LOL. I'm exhausted!! So today, I let her bake a cake. She's obsessed with watching how-to cake bake/decorate on YouTube. LOL.

Well, thanks for coming along with me on this crazy week and a half. I really had the intention of tweeting while I was away but the days were very hectic as you can imagine.

I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into my life and meeting the people who are near and dear to my heart. If you would like to see more little updates like this, let me know.

I still need to finish showing you the individual products in my E.L.F. haul so stay tuned for that.

I did miss you all!!


Luv & Luk,
--L.