Bang for your buck: ELF cosmetics

I decided to check out ELF's site because twitter was all abuzz with how great their sales are. And they really are great. I probably spent about $25-30 on both of these hauls, and the second one came with a free complete brush set. ELF has a lot of different palette options for eyeshadows, as well as some great beauty products.

The nail polish cube was maybe one of the best buys out of all this. It was $10, and came with 14 nail polishes. They're mini-sized but great colours and have lasted well on my nails. The one I have is the "party" set, which comes with great pinks, greys/silvers, and greens, but the other sets are really beautiful too and I have a feeling I might go back and collect them all.

My other favourite is the Studio Prisim Eyeshadow Palette, which I have in "smoke", but also  comes in a great set of pinks, and everyday neutrals. The eyeshadows are really beautiful glimmers, and blend pretty easily. They're not so highly pigmented so you'll have to build up the colour if you want it really dark, but I really love the shades and the palette is a great deal, also at $10.

I was a bit hesitant to buy concealer over the internet without trying swatches first, but I took a bit of a gamble and went with their Studio Under Eye Concealer & Highlighter. The coverage is surprisingly good, the colour worked out well, and the highlighter is great for the corners of my eyes. The 2-in-1 thing makes my morning routine so much easier.

The Studio Lip Primer & Plumper is also a great 2-in-1 deal. The plumper doesn't work as well as I'd hoped but has a nice cinnamon-y tingle, and did fill in the lines of my lips. The primer is great, and my lipstick stayed in place all day, also with the help of the Lip Lock Pencil. I really like the Lip Lock Pencil because it goes on clear, which means you don't have to worry about finding matching or coordinating lipliners.

The Eye Refresh worked just okay - I didn't see a huge difference in my dark circles but it does leave a nice refreshing cooling feeling in the morning, which helps me feel more awake. The concealer does a better job at covering up my under eye area.

Stay tuned for part 2!
-Christina

Evil Queen Inspiration: Daphne Guinness Could Probably Kill You

"Her appearance is so interesting it suggests that her appearance is the least interesting thing about her." - The New Yorker on Daphne Guinness, Sept 2011

Here's the thing about Daphne. She's the daughter of the Guinness brewery heir (and therefore heiress herself), and Diana Mitford of the famous Mitford sisters. She was friends with Lee McQueen and Isabella Blow, and recently saved Ms. Blow's clothing collection from going up for sale and instead made it into an exhibit. She's done collaborations with MAC, worked with Chanel, Philip Treacy, and Gareth Pugh. FIT hosted a gallery of her couture collection. She is all at once heiress, model, muse, designer, collector, and supreme bad ass bitch. And she wears gigantic shoes that make you feel like the underling you are, and clothes that cost more than your soul, and looks consistently like she rules the world by day and sacrifices things to the devil at night. And I love her. 

"Fashion is not just about trends. It’s about political history. You can trace it from the ancient Romans to probably until the ’80s, and you can see defining moments that were due either to revolutions or changes in politics. At the end of the Roman era, there was this whole move against togas, because that was the signifier of the Roman Empire. In the same way, the ’60s were a reaction against the ’50s and so on. But now we’ve been feeding on a sort of cadaver. At the moment, we’re just endlessly recycling the past." - Daphne to Interview Magazine

Wearing Alexander McQueen for Vanity Fair, then at Lee McQueen's funeral

All That Glitters: RMK Ingenious Cream&Powder Eyes 01*

So I haven't really blogged about makeup yet but I'm going to start doing that more often, because if there's anything essential to being an Evil Queen it's not only having flawless skin but also flawless makeup. I'm a big fan of bold eyes and bold lips, so you probably won't be seeing a lot of "natural look" mumbo jumbo on here. We're going for fierce, exciting makeup that makes you look like you're about to fuck shit up.

I was sent the RMK Ingenious Cream & Powder Eyes 01 by the lovelies at lookfantastic.com, and though I don't ever wear gold, this was still really fun to play around with. The packaging is ADORABLE (the silver box says "open me choose me" all over it, like it's begging for you to pick it up off the shelf in the store and take it home with you), and the two eyeshadows swivel out from each other in a very sleek silver compact. It comes with a brush which you can push out to either side, one for the cream shadow and one for the powder, so you never mix. I really like things that come with brushes. It makes my life easier, and feels like a 2-for-1 deal.

The cream eyeshadow is a very lovely, shimmery gold, and goes on pretty light and sheer. If you want a lot of colour, you have to pack it on, and then it can get a little clumpy. The silver is also very sheer and very glittery, which I do like, and mixes well with the cream for a blended look. I did a very simple look with these - gold all over the lid, silver on the outer V of my eye and under my brow, and winged eyeliner. I think it makes a pretty perfect holiday look, and it's super easy to do with just this one compact. I really enjoyed playing with it, and I think I would look for other colour combinations with this item like the purples or greens, and there's also neutrals - all available on lookfantastic.com! And apologies in advance for my horrible eyebrows that need to be done badly:

Try it out for yourselves and send me looks that you come up with!

x
Christina
* indicates PR sample