Softlips Winter Flavors!

Helllo my lovlies!

I hope I didn't put any of you in a panic last week when I said that my giveaway ended last Friday...because I was wrong, haha!  I thought it ended on the 9th when in truth I initially had it ending on the 15th!  SOOOooooooo you still have a full 6 days to enter if you haven't yet!

I've got a great non-polish related product to tell you about today!

I'm sure most of you have heard of Softlips--it's one of the best chap stick brands out there in my opinion.  Wellll they've got four new winter flavors out and I was lucky enough to be able to try them! 

Two packs!

The great flavors I was sent to try were: Winter Mint, Sugar Cookie, Sugar & Spice, and Sugar Plum Berry.  And they sent them to me in a cute drawstring satchel:

I realize there are only two in here...well that's because my boyfriend stole one and the other I left at work :)

These were definitely festive flavors that I was excited to try!

Winter Mint is definitely my favorite of the bunch!  That is the one I keep on me all day at work.  It's got just the perfect hint of peppermint that makes you think of candy canes and Christmas time :)  I love minty chap sticks in general...the mint tingle makes it feel like it's working!

Sugar Plum Berry is my second favorite.  It's got a strong berry flavor with a touch of tingle as well!  It smells or tastes like a candy or something but I just can't place my finger on it...

Sugar Cookie was probably my least favorite of the bunch.  It does taste JUST like a sugar cookie, though!  And don't get me wrong...I love sugar cookies, but things that aren't cookies that taste or smell like cookies just weird me out, hah!  But if you're one of those who loves those "vanilla icing" flavored chap sticks or cookies scented candles, you'll probably love it.  This one was the BF's favorite and he stole it!  I haven't seen it since I took them out of the box hah.

Sugar and Spice smells just like winter time.  I can't really describe it very well...oh I got it!  It's like spice cake!  But without the "not food but tasting like food" vibe that I got from Sugar Cookie.  I liked this one a lot, too!

Overall, I'd definitely buy these if I ran out anytime soon :)  I love Softlips because it's got that good tingly feeling you get from great chapstick and they have SPF 20 to protect your lips even more during those harsh winter months!

Lucky for you, they're not that expensive!  You can get them at most drug stores (Or even Target/Walmart) in select two packs for $3.99, or if you want all 4 in a cute satchel like I got (+1 free in Mint with a hint of Vanilla flavor), you can order it online exclusively from softlips.com!  These can be used as great stocking stuffers!  If you want some more cute holiday ideas you can try with Softlips, check out their youtube page.

Have you guys tried any of these winter Softlips flavors!?

<3 Whitney

P.S. I will be setting up another giveaway soon that includes the same 4 Softlips flavors I've reviewed today plus some other goodies, so keep your eyes open for it soon!

Bare Minerals Eye Liner + Shadow Review!

Okayyyy if you remember from one of my recent hauls posts I picked up a bunch of Bare Minerals make up while visiting Ohio! 

It's my favorite kind of make up everrrr!  I decided that since I hinted towards the eyeliner I was wearing in yesterday's post, I'd talk about it today!

So here's what I've got to review for you ladies today:

Wearable Browns Eye Shadows

ANnndddddd

The Retro Lounge Powder Eyeliner

I'm actually going to do a comparison of the two liners that I picked up that day, the Retro (seen above) and a pencil called Sage that was featured in the Girlfriend collection (seen in my haul post).

I'll just post all the pictures first and then discuss 'em:

Wearable Light Brown, Wearable Medium Brown, Wearable Dark Brown

Artsy perspective...oooh.  These shadows are all used in the pics below (of my eyes...duh)

Up close of the Retro powder eyeliner + brush

My favorite Bare Minerals eyeliner is a powder eyeliner, so I had high hopes for this one!  Not to mention it came with a brush, albeit much wider than the normal liner brush I use.  It, however, was much darker than the liner color I usually use and it was pretty much a jet black:

 

Retro gave a pretty smooth line...it's a little shaky though 'cause I wasn't used to using the giant applicator brush!

Up close of the Sage eyeliner pencil...you can see (and probably tell by the name) it's a brownish-green color!

This was a very unique color for me!  It's a dark shimmery green.  It didn't give as smooth of a line as the Retro, but I think I like it better anyway:

Dark green/gold = pretty.  It would look better with a gold or bronze shadow

Here is a picture of both of my eyes so you can see the differences in the liners side by side:

I think I'm quite terrible at applying and blending eyeshadow.  I used the wearable light brown above my lids and under my brows, wearable medium brown on the lids and wearable dark brown on the crease.  Here's a few more pics of my eyes, open...which covers up the fact that I suck at applying makeup lol:

Sage

Retro

Overall I'm pretty satisfied with all my purchases!  I really like the three shadow colors, I just need to work on blending a little better.  I don't wear too much vibrant-colored make-up so these neutral browns are just up my alley! 

In terms of color and ease, I loved the Sage eyeliner pencil.  It's so much faster just to swipe on a pencil!  I do think, though, that this would be better suited for a colored shadow!  In this case, I did like how Retro looked a little better.  It ended up being a much cleaner line which suited the neutral colored shadows quite nice.

Also, if you're wondering, the mascara I have on is the Maybelline Lots of Lashes mascara featured in yesterday's post (and my giveaway).

Hope you all are well!
<3

Maybelline Lots of Lashes Mascara!

Heyyyy lovelies.

Man, I can't say it enough how happy I am that my blog feed is fixed and now people actually know I'm updating again. Horray!

Anywho, for those of you who don't know, I'm a BzzAgent, meaning I get some products to try for free and in return I'm supposed to share my experiences with my friends!

This time I got to try the Maybelline Lots of Lashes Mascara in very black:

The Great Lash Mascara that Maybelline makes has been around forever!  This, however, is a new and improved version called Lots of Lashes featuring a new applicator brush they call the little grabber.  This brush is supposed to help you reach the inner and outer corners of your eye lashes much easier.   Here are some pics of the applicator:

Up close and personal

I really really liked the applicator brush.  What they advertise is true: it was super easy to reach all of my lashes.  And it was also quite simple to build up your coats.  It says for a fuller look to apply another coat without letting the first one dry.  I'm all about that because I'm impatient...and I like giant eyelashes.

Here are some pics of me wearing this mascara:

Yes the eyeliner I'm wearing is different on each eye...I'll update about that later

Overall I reallllly liked this mascara.  I'm very very picky about my mascaras...and I usually wear waterproof because it curls better...but I've found myself wearing this a lot lately!
It applies relatively thin for mascara, which I like since it leads to clump free lashes!  It also removes easily with normal soap and water or make-up remover (or tears lol).

So overall, this mascara gets a thumbs up for me!  I got sent FIVE of these and have been passing them out to my friends! And good news for you ladiessss...you can win one in my giveaway!

If you can't wait for that, though, and you want to try it ASAP, it retails for $6.40 at most mass retailers ;)  If you want more info, check out their facebook page!

<3 Whitney

Color Club Beyond The Mistletoe Review and Giveaway! **CLOSED**

Okay so I have GOOD news.  First of all I started a BLOG SALE!  Please check it out and buy things :) I'm really trying hard to get some extra money saved!  It's open to both US and International buyers!  It's got some great stuff on there.

Next up I have a review of a few of the colors from the Color Club Beyond the Mistletoe holiday collection!

First: Sugarplum Fairy!  A beautiful silver/lavender holographic glitter

This one is really exciting!  It's is a mixture of gorgeous silver/lavendar holo glitters in a clear base that looks awesome in the sun!  These pictures are shown with 3 coats.  It's pretty opaque after 3 coats.  It's also a dupe of Funky Fingers Sand and Stilettos. 

Next: Beyond the Mistletoe!  A lovely seafoam green-ish holo glitter!

Beyond the Mistletoe is another lovely holographic glitter polish consisting of green holo glitter in a clear base.  This one is thinner than Sugarplum Fairy and it took 4 coats to become opaque.  It is also a dupe of a Funky Fingers polish: Baby, Baby, Baby.  

Last: Holiday Splendor!  My favorite of the whole collection! (And I haven't even tried them all)

Darker lighting to show the vibrant color!

Holiday Splendor is different than the rest of the collection as it consists of green/teal holographic glitter in a green jelly-like base.  It was easily the most gorgeous color of the whole collection.  This one only took 2 coats to become opaque.  I don't know what else to say except..wow!  I'm usually not a fan of teals or greens with my skin tone, but seriously this is probably in my top 10 faves now.  It's perfect for the holidays!

Now, there are three other colors in this set, but the day I was swatching these I got lazy and frustrated with my lighting situation, so this is all ya got right now :)

However, you'll have the chance to swap them for yourselves because I'm giving a set away!

In addition to the entire Color Club Beyond the Mistletoe Collection you'll also get:
--1 Maybelline's Lots of Lashes Mascara in Very Black,
--1 Maybelline New Baby Lips Moisturizing Lip Balm in Cherry Me,
-- 2 Sally Hansen Nail Prisms: Lapis Amethyst, and South Sea Pearl!

Here are some additional photos:

The Color Club Collection is new and purchased by me and the Maybelline products were presented to me by BzzAgent to give away as I see fit :)  I threw in the SH Nail Prisms but they have been both been swatched one time on one hand (which I will post within the next few days so you can see what they look like!). 

Here are the giveaway rules:

1) You must be 18 or older to enter or else have your parents permission to give away your address if you win
2) This is open to U.S. residents only (I'm really sorry, international followers, it'd cost me a butt-load of money to ship all this stuff, and as you can see from my blogsale I'm trying to save money...I'll work on an international giveaway soon)
3) Enter ONLY once, if you enter more than once you will be disqualified.  If you can't remember if you've entered, shoot me an e-mail at EStyles.WW@gmail.com and I'll let you know! Also, if you don't do all the possible entries and decide later you want an additional entry via twitter or something, send me an e-mail with the links, don't fill out the form again!
4) This is open until December 15, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. EST!
5) To enter you MUST be a follower via GFC.  That means on the right sidebar you need to click the button that says "Follow" and sign in using Google (or whatever other accounts it asks for) or create an account.

You get 1 automatic entry for being a GFC follower and filling out the form!  Here are some ways you can get additional entries into the contest:


-Follow @ElementalStyles on Twitter [1 entry]
-Tweet about the giveaway (provide a direct link!) [2 entries]
-Blog about the giveaway (on sidebar, giveaway page or blog entry--provide a direct link) [2 entries for a link, 3 entries if you use one of the pictures]
-Add Elemental Styles to your blog roll (provide a link please!) [1 entry]
-Follow Elemental Styles on Facebook (provide Facebook name) [1 entry]
-Answer the extra question on the form [1 entry each]


**THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED!**

Recent Hauls!

I'm going to show you my recent hauls from my trip home!
From my first trip home, the weekend of Oct 21-23rd, I hit up my favorite beauty supply store in Columbus!

Jackpot!  Essie Super Bossa Nova, some Muppets, ORLY Collection, and a holo top coat!

I nabbed all the Muppets I could find: Excuse Moi, a 2 pack with Animalistic and Gettin' Miss Piggy With It and some glittery toe separators, Rainbow Connection, another 2 pack with Pepe's Purple Passion and Divine Swine, and Fresh Frog of Bel Air!

I also picked up ORLY's Holiday Soiree collection (which you saw yesterday!), and a Silver Holo top coat!  I got a GREAT deal on all the ORLY's...$3.75 each!

When I went back again this past weekend (Halloween weekend), I picked up some Bare Minerals Makeup:

A bunch of eyeshadows!  The four on the left are named after cute cocktails (Kir Royale, Strawberry Daquiri, Long Island Iced Tea, and Mojito) and came with a brush (not shown). The three on the left are all shades of brown.

I also picked up an eyeliner set (Retro liner plus brush) and a 7 Piece Girlfriend Collection that came with a mineral veil, blush, two eyeshadows (k.i.t. and b.f.f.) and an eyeliner and double-ended brush!

And here is MY BEST of the past two weeks:

OPI DS Signature, and OPI Ink (Suede version)  I found both of these at a GIANT EAGLE for $8 each!!!  Wish there had been more of the DS collection, I would've bought more.  BEAUTIFUL!

And finally I came home to nail mail!  From a giveaway I won from Carly at Lacquered Lover!

Yay Halloween polishes!!

Woooooo!  What a great past two weeks.  I've really not been buying polish for a while, so this was awesome for me!  I've got a lot of swatching to do :)

Have any of you picked up any of the ORLY Holiday Soiree Collection?? 

<3 Whitney