Summer/Spring Essentials | elliewoods

So as some may be aware (mainly those living in Australia) it is currently Summer. So as the weather is hot and we are trying to keep our makeup in place and keep our skin from drying out from the sun. I thought I would share with you some of my beauty essential products that I tend to lean towards in the hot months.

The Link below is the video that I posted last Sunday on all the beauty products ranging from skin care to makeup which are my holy grail products during the Summer/Spring months :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mepK8w-mdhE

So what are your holy grail products for the hotter months?

Boe Eye Box Glam ROAR | elliewoods

Whilst out shopping the other day, I came across this Boe beauty eye box which had been marked down from $5 to $3 so of course I thought after having a look at the colour range, why not! The colour range seem like they would make lovely eye looks ranging from natural to dramatic even darish looks.

Of course knowing that in the past I have not been much of a fan for some particular Boe products and that Boe is quite a cheap brand for most of their products only $2 . I had no grand expectations for this eye shadow palette.

However once applying it to my lids I discovered that they are quite lovely colours.

The downside to this palette would be that those nude to lighter shades are hardly visable (as you can see from the photos) However those darker shades especially Copper are so highly pigmented that you only need a smidge in order to get the perfect colour for your lids.

(Left to Right: Pyramid, Princess, Galaxy, Spear, Moss, Copper, Treasure,Highbrow, Dusted, Frost)

I do wish that the lighter shades such as pyramid were just that much more pigmented as I believe if it was then it would be a truly beautiful colour on the lids.

All in All I did highly enjoy this palette, its just those lighter shades that let me down in this palette.

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Rimmel Rockin' Curves Mascara | elliewoods

Whilst out shopping the other day I saw that Rimmel had just come out with a new mascara, Rimmel Rockin' Curves. So of course as it was on sale for it's new introductory price of $7.99 I had to pick it up!

Straight away this mascara stands out when put amongst other mascaras from Rimmel and that is due to its casing. Now some people might not be a fan of the red snake like pattern around the whole tube of marcara.

This is another of Rimmel new products to the Scandaleyes family. What I really like about this product is definitely the brush, how it is a curved wand. This product promises to twist and curve to huge the lash line through "the thin tip grabbing the hard-to-reach inner lashes, while the amplified base pulses lashes with incredible volume and curve".

Now I usually have a love-hate relationship with Rimmel Products. Whilst I love any of their base products & lip products, I always find that there mascara never really do much for my lashes. 

However I felt that by them changing their brush into an 'S' shape they really hit the nail on the head and I would be surprised if other makeup lines followed suit. I felt like this really grabbed at the lashes and applied evenly and that it easily created length and volume to my lashes. Another perk of this is that no matter how much I worked the product on my lashes I found that it didn't clump unlike other mascaras.

 

The only downside to this mascara would be for those who are wanting a really dramatic or big bold look to their lashes. I would say that this may not be your cup of tea. However if you are going for a natural/ simple look with some volume, length a heck of a lot of curl then I would definitely recommend you giving this a go!

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Forgotten Products of February | elliewoods

At the end of January I sifted through my makeup collection and found a abundant amount of makeup which I had either forgotten about or have stopped reaching for. That is when I decided that I would at the start/end of every month take out the products that I haven't been using and put them in a box next to where I do my makeup. So instead of opening my makeup draw I will hopefully go to the box. Which I hope means that in turn I use some of the products that I have been neglecting.

So without further ado these are the products I will be using all month long!

LIPGLOSS:

I would have to say that lipgloss for me, isn't really essential for an everyday look. This means that I tend to either lose a lot of them or that their little box of glosses just go untouched for what seems an eternity and I hardly ever get round to using them. Meaning that this takes me forever to actually finish one lipgloss.

 (Boe - Milk Chocolate, BYS Duo Gloss - Chocolate & Vanilla. Essence Lipgloss - Big Night Out & JQC - Kiwi & Vanilla Gloss)

LIPLINER/STICK

 Now this is probably one of my most used lot of products, however because whenever I tend to go shopping I pick up a new liner/ chubby stick or lipstick, I do tend to lose track and stop using some of my older products and op for those newer ones.

 (BYS lipliner - Ice Pink & Australis Show Stopper Gloss Stick - Fairy Floss)

MASCARA:

Of course mascara is a girls best friend when it comes to your lashes. Anything to make them fuller and longer is great in my books and I am always tending to try something new and find the perfect mascara where I just think "yep! thats my mascara!" so whilst I do like these mascaras they aren't up there in my favourites so they do tend to be overlooked quite often.

 (Rimmel Scandaleyes Show Off - Black, Max Factor Lash Extension Effect - Brown/Black & Revlon Photoready 3D volume - Black)

 EYELINER:

So for a while (about a month) I completely stopped using liquid eyeliner which meant that I had my eyeliner collection started to look a bit full. So because I began missing my winged eyeliner I whipped them back out and these where the ones I realised that I tended to overlook when selecting my eyeliner so I thought they would be perfect to put in my february box!

(e.l.f liquid eyeliner - black. Rimmel Exaggerate Eyeliner - Black & e.l.f Brightening Eyeliner - Coffee) 

EYESHADOW:

When it comes to eyeshadows I always tend to steer towards natural colours, this is because I hardly like to step out of my comfort zone when it comes to shadows and it is a bit daunting for me to picture myself with greens and blues on my eyelids. So as you can see I stick to browns, blacks and golds. These however in the recent months haven't gotten much use. Because as it is Summer in Australia, I have tended to just use nude shades on my lids. So to get back into the swing of things I selected these few shadows and lets hope I get some use out of them!

(e.l.f beautiful browns eyeshadow palette & Max Factor - Onyx)

(Beauty Attitude Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil - Golden & Revlon Colorstay - 500 Addictive)

 (Rimmel Glam'Eyes Quad - 001 Smokey Noir) 

BLUSH:

It always seem to me that I can never really find a nice and natural looking blush when it comes to drugstore products. This means that I will usually buy a blush and not use it for quite some time until I test it out a bit and discover the perfect way to wear it on my face without it looking to over the top. This however also means that (because I'm to lazy) I stick to those products that I love and enjoy and leave many in the draw until I'm bored or just want a change. This is why I have chosen these two as whilst I have wore these before, I still find myself never reaching for them and this month I tend to get a lot of use out of them!

 (Smooch Blusher & Savvy Classic Blush - Silky Pink)

BRONZER:

Usually just like blush, with bronzer I tend to steer towards high-end products this is because they tend to be less orange when applied to the face and have a all over more natural look to them, especially when it comes to contouring and such. I have chosen these two for this month as I feel that they are constantly overlooked in my collection and never seem to be the products that I first reach for or even think about using.

 (e.l.f Warm Bronzer & Beauty Attitude Blush, Bronzer & Highlighter) 

POWDER:

Whilst I have a few powders in my collection I always tend to never use any of them other than my Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder, this is because it does everything I need a powder to do and whether I am going into the city for the day or off for a night out I know that it will fight to keep any shine away. That is why I thought as I am trying to use neglected products this month I would pull out two powder and get the most out of what little is left of them. (and there is very little left in both)

 (Maybelline Mineral Power - nude (light) & Avon Loose Powder - Translucent)

CONCEALER:

I seem to have over my fair share of concealers, so in order to free up some space I have chosen two concealers this month to use and these two are just the perfect combination for a full and even coverage for both dark under eye circles and any blemishes you might need covering up. 

 (Maybelline Cover Stick - Yellow (under eye dark circles) & Essence stay all day concealer 16 hour)

  FOUNDATION:

With Foundation as it does with most Bloggers and such find a foundation that they love but then a bigger and better one comes along and the rest get forgotten. Now this tends to happen to me quite a lot especially when it comes to drugstore foundations. For a few months they will be everything I want in a foundation, the perfect colour, the perfect consistency, it will sit nicely on my face without becoming patchy or shiny. However then either the weather changes or the balance of my skin changes and then I'm off looking for a new foundation again. However at the moment I have pulled these from the back of my collection and they seem to be doing everything that I want them to do. 

(Revlon Photoready Airbrush - Nude & Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation - Soft Beige)

What products are you wanting to use this February? or let me know if you have done something like this and how it went :)

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