E.L.F. Studio HD Blush

Have you ever wondered why women are obsessed with rosy cheeks? What has made that flushed look so appealing to us? Rosy cheeks are actually a cue to youth and fertility- a cue that men use to find an attractive mate. If a woman has rosy cheeks, she is probably fertile, and young enough to be child-bearing. (Sorry I just had to put this in, I'm a social psychologist writing a blog about blush and rosy cheeks!)

This is why we apply blush to our cheekbones. It makes us look younger, awake, and healthy. There was actually one point in my duration of makeup collecting when I was OBSESSED with blushes. I wanted to find the perfect coral/pink shade that was long lasting, easy to apply, and made me look like I was alive and not half-dead from the lack of sleep the night before. While shopping on my favourite bargain makeup website (eyeslipsface.com), I stumbled across this. And quite honestly, I may never go back to traditional blushes again.

Introducing: the only blush you'll ever need.

Today, we're going to look at a product that has quickly become one of my FAVOURITES from the E.L.F. Studio Line. E.L.F.'s HD (High-Definition) Studio Blush is a new addition to their makeup line, I think it was released in early 2013. I've had these babies sitting in my makeup drawer for quite some time now, the only reason I hadn't touched it was because I realized one day that I had accumulated 5 different, full-sized blushes, and hadn't even touched the pan in the blush that I was using at the time (E.L.F. Studio Blush in Candid Coral). Once I could see the pan and manage to make a sizable hole in the product, I gave it to my mom and immediately opened these up, as I had literally been dying to try them since I first ordered them online.

The E.L.F. HD Blush is thinner than a cream and almost has the consistency of a foundation. Because it is SUPER pigmented, a little bit goes a long way. You can apply this like a cream blush and blend it in with your fingertips, or you can use a small stippling brush. I personally, use E.L.F.'s Studio Small Stipple Brush.

This is a synthetic, duo-fibred brush that picks up minimal product, but can blend to an airbrush finish. It has the diameter of about 1.5cm or 3/4", which makes it perfect for getting into small delicate areas like the contours of the face and high end of the cheeckbone. This brush is perfect for applying and blending cream blushes, highliters, concealer, foundation in those hard to reach areas (Though I would most definitely recomend using a separate brush for each of those functions haha). At only $3 USD (available at eyeslipsface.com), having 3-4 of these brushes for different products is no issue at all.


I really love this product's packaging.  It comes in a small, 0.34oz. (10mL) bottle, which really isn't very much volume-wise, but you certainly get bang for your buck- considering that you can probably get more than 60 applications with one bottle. The pump is easy to use and super easy to control- which is crucial because you literally only need a quarter of a pea-sized amount for both of your cheeks (and maybe even a friend's), anymore than that and I promise you, you will look like a clown. That is how pigmented it is. It also lasts a VERY long time, I came home one day after 12 hours of wear and I still had blush on my cheeks! :)


I find that the easiest way to apply this is to squeeze a tiny bit onto the back of my hand, swirling it into a small circle, dipping my stippling brush into the circle and applying the product to my face, blending in small stippling motions.



The blush comes in 5 colours, Superstar (a peachy pink with a slight gold sparkle), Headliner (a mauve-based pink), Diva (hot pink), Encore (a purple-pink) and Showstopper (deep purple). I own Headliner and Superstar. The slight, gold sparkle is actually really nice, it adds a lovely blow to the tip of your cheek bones.

Superstar (peachy pink) and Headliner (mauve-pink).

Me wearing Headliner (Left) and Superstar (right). 

E.L.F.'s HD blush is a less expensive alternative to the most-sought after HD Blush by Make Up For Ever ($31 CAD, available at Sephora). E.L.F.'s blush costs $3USD, and has a little bit more product in the tube. E.L.F.'s comes in only 5 colours and MUFE's is available 14 shades, but regardless of your skin tone, I'm sure that at least one of the 5 shades E.L.F. offers will suit you. (I don't own MUFE's version, but if I ever get a hold of it, I'll certainly do a comparison.)

I love this blush so much, it's probably going to become a staple in my everyday makeup arsenal. Not only is it super pigmented and incredibly long lasting, it's only THREE BUCKS- and that's cheaper than my favourite coffee at Starbucks! Other long lasting blushes will easily put you at least $30 in the hole. You could buy 5 of these blushes and pay the E.L.F. shipping rate and it'd still be cheaper than one high end blush!

That's all from me folks! If you own the E.L.F. HD Blush, I'd love to hear your experiences with it. Or if you own MUFE's version, let me know how you're liking that one! Don't forget to subscribe and comment below!

xox,
ysobel

Make-Up Repair Tutorial

Good morning all!

Here is the long awaited broken makeup tutorial! Here's a reminder of what happened last week....

So I dropped my entire makeup bag on the ground and my bronzer basically died. Fear not! Here is a simple tutorial on how to go about fixing your broken makeup while keeping the colours as separate as possible!

(A) Gather your materials. You'll need:
Your broken makeup, rubbing alcohol, a skewer, an eye shadow brush and a medicine dropper (not pictured here but seen in later shots). Also grab a piece of paper and a small flat object (Similar to a USB-wall adapter).
(B) Here's a photo of the broken compact once again.
(C) Fill your dropper with rubbing alcohol. Targetting the top right section (The broken one that's still the most intact), drop the alcohol on the cracks and gently push the pieces together using your skewer. Continue to shape the section until it returns to its original shape (or as close as you can).
(D) With your first section entirely intact, continue to crush the next segment into smaller, more manageable segments with your skewer, until it reaches a consistency close to the one above.
(E) Using your medicine dropper, add a few drops of alcohol and mix with the pigment until it forms a paste. Try not to add too much alcohol, you don't want it to be too liquidy because it'll be difficult to work with.
(F) Using an eye shadow brush, gently sweep any loose pigment into your big pile of pigment goop. Proceed to spread the goop with your skewer. Try to get right to the edge of the pan.
You can also place a few drops of alcohol wherever the makeup has separated from the pan. Use your skewer to push these pieces back into place. Allow to dry for 1 HR.
(G) Using a piece of paper and a small, flat object, flatten the makeup to create an even surface. Place a piece of paper on top and gently maneuver it under an object with a flat side. I picked the adapter because it was small enough to fit my pan and had the curved corners to match the edges of the pan. For some reason I picked a receipt I had on the table from a coffee I bought earlier that day... Don't worry! None of the ink transfered!
(H) Allow your pressed makeup to dry for a full 24-48 hours until you use it again.

VOILA! Your makeup has been restored. When doing this, keep a few things in mind:

(i) Don't douse your makeup in alcohol. If you put too much alcohol on it, your makeup will have cracks in it as the alcohol evaporates. If you accidentally added too much alcohol, gently press your makeup further into the pan using the paper/adapter method every 4 hours or so.
(ii) If you didn't use alcohol on the entire thing (like me), the "water mark" (from the alcohol between a wet and dry segment) may not completely disappear when the makeup dries. Not to worry, it won't affect the pigmentation of your makeup.
(iii) If you're really in a pinch and you don't have rubbing alcohol, try a toner! My friend actually did this with one of her bronzers that broke because she didn't have rubbing alcohol on hand and it worked!

I'm so happy because my favourite bronzer's back in my makeup bag and I don't have to keep using another gross ashy coloured one anymore haha.

Have you tried this method before? I'd love to hear your makeup rescue stories!

xox,
ysobel

Fixing Broken Makeup - Tutorial Teaser!

Good afternoon y'all!

I woke up several hours earlier than usual this morning because I had a dental consultation at 7:30 (ugh). I don't even wake up at 7:30AM normally. I found out that I have to get all four of my wisdom teeth removed (BOO) because they're overcrowding my mouth like crazy. On my way home, I dropped my makeup bag on the concrete in front of my house.

Have you ever dropped your makeup bag/some other palette on a hard surface before? Every time it happens to me, or every time I see it happen, I gasp and my heart literally skips a beat. Nothing sucks mroe than opening up your makeup bag only to find your precious pressed makeup crumbled, smothered all over everything else in your bag that (hopefully) didn't break.

To my surprise, the majority of my makeup survived the fall. The only exception was my E.L.F. Studio Bronzer in Warm (As featured in my very first post, here).

The only casualty from this morning's dreadful makeup bag drop.

I'm lucky it didn't spread everywhere and that the rest of my make up remained in tact. This is however my current go-to bronzer. Despite the fact that it's only $3 and I could replace it in a jiffy (well a little longer than that because I still have to order it off of ELF's website and wait for it to ship to Canada), I wanted to save it. I hate seeing makeup go to waste because it's broken. Pressed makeup- eye shadows, pressed powders, blushes, etc. are actually relatively easy to fix; so easy that you likely have the products sitting in your own house right now.

My bronzer is currently in repair. One it has returned to it's usable state I'll finish this post and show you how to fix your broken makeup without having to destroy and crumble the entire thing (Which would be detrimental in this case because this bronzer is segmented into four lovely separate colours). I actually managed to save the two that were broken and press everything else back into position. It's a little lumpy looking... hopefully I'll be able to rectify that before I post it up here.

Stay tuned! I'll be posting a great tutorial for all of you in the next 48 hours, complete with step by step instructions on how to repair your shattered but prized pieces in your makeup collection.

xox,
Ysobel