E.L.F. Makeup Haul – Reviews to Come!

ELF Haul 1

You know that feeling you get when you’re so overexcited about makeup and beauty products that you start to wonder whether you’re too superficial and your priorities are all wrong and that you might die sad and alone surrounded only by mascara? Yeah, well I was simply too busy to feel that today as I was SO EXCITED by the arrival of our delivery from E.L.F.

I’ve heard so many wonderful things about E.L.F (or e.l.f? Or am I allowed to just call it Elf? I’m so unaware of the etiquette) in the last couple of weeks that I just had to have a look at their website. I was initially looking for a contouring kit, but was so amazed by the cheapy-cheap prices that I had to throw a few other things into my online basket. I had around £15 worth of stuff, and then Lauren realised that if she spent about the same amount then we would be eligible for free deliver. Well, that’s just good economics isn’t it?

ELF Haul 2

I was really impressed to have it turn up in the post today after only ordering on Monday – 3 days for free second class delivery is not bad at all. I immediately had to take a few photos to share what we’ve bought in our haul and am having to resist the urge to run into the work toilets to try out all the products. Needless to say though, they will all be tried very shortly and you can expect to see some reviews up.

Here’s a run down of what we decided to buy:

Claire

ELF Haul 4

Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder in ‘St Lucia’ – £3.75

All-Over Cover Stick in ‘Light Beige’ – £1.50

Nail Polish in ‘Desert Haze’ – £2.50

Mineral Lipstick in ‘Natural Nymph’ – £5

Lip Primer and Plumper – £3.75

All-Over Colour Stick in ‘Spotlight’ – £1.50

I ended up with quite a bit more than the contouring kit, as you can see. But with prices like £1.50, how can you resist? I love gimmicky products like the lip plumper so I’m looking forward to giving that a go, and I’m intrigued to try the ‘Spotlight’ Colour Stick as part of my contouring experiment. I also had to try the nude lipstick in the hope that it might be a cheap alternative to my Mac Crème D’Nude that I’m still using far too often for a £14 lipstick.

Lauren

ELF Haul 3

Beauty Book in ‘Natural Look’ – £6

3-in-1 Mascara – £3.75

Lipstick in ‘Nostalgic’ – £1.50

Nail Polish in ‘Copper’ – £2.50

Lauren was really impressed with this Beauty Book which comes with an eyeshadow palette, primer, eyeliner, applicator and instructions on how to achieve different looks. I know, it’s extremely shocking that she ordered it in a natural shade – I think I got a new wrinkle from how quickly my eyebrows shot up in surprise. She also needed new mascara so decided to give this one a whirl – we’re excited to see how it matches up to Benefit ‘They’re Real’ seeing as it has the same brush shape, complete with the little ball at the end. She then decided to try out the £1.50 lipstick range, and settled on a new copper nail varnish.

This resulted in an incident that we will now refer to as Metallicgate, in which I made a casual comment that I wasn’t a fan of metallic polishes and Lauren argued with me that I SO WAS because I wore gold and I said that I SO WASN’T and I think I know what I like and then we didn’t speak for five minutes. It sometimes gets pretty tense here at Stylingo.

Anyway, we are SUPER excited to try out our new products and let you know what we think of them all. Have any of you tried E.L.F? What are your thoughts? And am I allowed to call it Elf?!

Mini Haul: Primark, Barry M and Palmers

Primark Haul 7 Group

I popped into town today for ‘one or two bits’ and, of course, got a tad carried away. In my defence, I didn’t spend that much. The fact that it was still money I don’t have is neither here nor there (in fact I think it’s there, way way way over there…)

So I thought I’d share with you what I picked up.

Primark Haul 5

This is one of the bog standard Primark skater dresses that they sell for a ridiculously good FIVE ENGLISH POUNDS. I have one of the t-shirt versions and it’s good enough quality – it shrunk in the wash, but this was most probably my fault because I shrink everything, and I don’t mind anyway because it made it a slightly nicer length for my dwarfish frame. I like the bright blue of this dress and, although it’s nothing too exciting, I’m sure I’ll be happyI bought it on a sunny day soon (not today; the strong winds meant that the shoppers in Coventry city centre have had quite enough of my butt cheeks for one weekend).

Primark Haul 4

Baragainous little crop top for a mere £2. TWO ENGLISH POUNDS. Okay, I’ll stop doing that now. But still! I already have cropped vests from Primark in white and grey so thought this neon orange/coral one would be a good addition to the collection.

Primark Haul 3

I think this is actually my favourite thing I’ve bought today. It’s a white crop top (no shit, Sherlock) but it’s got a beaut low back that makes it a lot more dressy. A word of advice, the sizes come up quite big on this if you’re a small-boobed girl like myself; the 8 was really baggy so I ended up getting a 6. I think I’m going to wear this on a night out next weekend with my new Topshop denim skater skirt and maybe some neon-esque accessories. Oh, and this too only cost a fiver. Suh-weet.

Primark Haul 1

Multi-packs like this are so useful, and really good value for money too. The rings were £2.50 and the bracelets were £4. I love the turquoise and silver combo that I’m seeing around quite a bit at the moment, and I’m glad to see the grungey cross/skull trend still seems to be hanging about (mainly as I’ve got quite a few pieces like this so I’m not ready to give them all up and be an untrendy Wendy again).

Primark Haul 6

Ah, black flats: one of those essential-but-boring items you need to replace now and then. Primark had so many really nice flats in, lots of cutaway detailing, peep toes, and lovely nude shades of tan and stone. But alas, I needed to replace my ruined black flats and so had to make the decision to get these instead. I suppose they’re not too boring, but… wah. I also got some frilly ankle socks; these aren’t something I’ve worn before, but I thought I’d give them a little go with my Converse and try not to feel like too much of a massive tit.

Primark Haul 2

I eventually stepped away from Primark (after trying loads of other stuff on that thankfully didn’t suit me when on) and headed to some makeup shops. I initially went into Superdrug to get a few bits for our first ever GIVEAWAY (which we should be launching today or tomorrow, keep your eyes peeled and be sure to follow us on Twitter @StylingoUK). But I of course got distracted by the Barry M stand. All of the nail varnishes had been removed from my local Boots last weekend – I asked the bloggers on Twitter, and apparently they had been recalled due to an issue with the current batch of bottles as they kept smashing. Either the issue has been resolved, or Superdrug just aren’t as bothered about protecting our little fingers as they had a beautiful fully-stocked nail section. Insert the ‘loveheart eyes’ emoji here. I’ve been wanting to try the new confetti range for ages, so chose this nice blue to start with.

I also picked up the Palmers Cocoa Butter gradual tanner after reading quite a few positive reviews about it. I occasionally use the Dove gradual tanner (which is a million times better than Johnsons – which, to use a retro insult, WHOMPS) but I’ve heard that Palmers one is quite a bit darker so I wanted to give it a whirl. I’ll do full reviews of these two products once I’ve given them a fair go.

And that is it! What do you all think of this mini haul? What have you been buying lately?