First Swap, with Taygan! =D

Super excited that Taygan from My BlOgSpOt *Montser Girl* agreed on doing a swap with me! She's one of my closest friends here on Blogger, we tweet each other almost every single day and it's usually endless chit-chatting. LOVE. She is so nice and don't to Earth, I suggest you all check her out and follower her blog for me, k? Please and thankkkkkkkkkkk you! =D

I was soo excited when I got my package, she even paid extra for express shipping which I thought she was super nice because she really didn't have to spend extra money on me. I so excited to receive my package 2 days after she shipped it out! We had a tiny spending budget of $20 but when you see what she got me, you know she OVERSPENT on me again!! I felt sooo bad that I didn't send her more!! But, I was happy when I unwrapped it to find everything I wanted! (I can finally cross out some of the items on the Wish List =P). Thank you Taygan!! =D

Here we go with the GOODIES =D

Nicely wrapped by the wonderful Taygan!
Love the cute card too!

My first Wet n Wild product ever! I love this colour in Nutty (shimmery brown) =D

Hard Candy Blush Crush Baked Blush in 125 Living Doll
I loveeee blushes, this is a frosty light pink =D

Rimmel Lasting Finish Blush in 018 Pink Sorbet
I wanted this ever since I saw it on "amarixe" from YouTube. I am soo glad Taygan got this for me, I can finally cross it out from my Wish List =D
This is a light pink/corally colour with a lovely sheen =D

L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes in 630 Blackest Black with s BONUS eyeliner =]
I wanted to buy this combo when I saw it at Walmart but good thing I didn't because they jacked up the price here in Toronto compared to what Taygan told me the price she paid for it. So glad you got me this T! another item off my list ^^.

Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer in Watermelon and Hard Candy Tinted Lip Balm in Bridal Blush
So far loving both of these!
Burt's Bee has amazing pigments!, Hard candy is quite moisturizing =D

Here are some sample swatches for the above items =]
Lighting is washing out a lot of the colours though =[

Cheeky Monkey Document in CM-P-108
This is one of the reason why Taygan and I did this swap. She got this nail polish in one of her Luxe Box and I got a metallic black in mine but I prefer lighter colour while she liked darker ones so I suggested that we should do a swap instead of just sending one nail polish =]. So glad to receive this pearly white, I can do french tips with this =D. Thank you again T! =D

YESto Cucumbers Facial Towelettes
Love this compacted makeup wipes that I can put in my tiny makeup train case! =D

Maynards Sour Patch Kids
Yummmy!!!! One of my favourite sour candy! Taygan got me a big bag too =D
This will last me for a while =]

Overview of all the things she got me^^.

Thank you again Taygan! I am very grateful and happy to have meet you on Blogger and I sure had tons of fun opening this swap (as you probably know from all the tweets I sent you while I was unwrapping everything =P).

Hope you all enjoy reading this, I always wanted to do swaps because I was A LOT of YouTube and I see swaps everywhere. Never thought I could have an opportunity to do one myself so I'm glad Taygan agreed on doing one with me =D


Also wanted to thank everyone who have entered my mini giveaway, you can still enter now, there's still a ton of time for you to enter because it ends on November 30th. Click picture to be redirected to that giveaway =].

Thanks for reading, hope you all have a wonderful weekend =D

**Alx**

Review: ELF Cream Eyeliner (requested)

Fine fine fine.. I'll post something!!.. even if I'm super mad at blogger for not showing my updates on dashboard for the LONGEST time!! a month or so already? T_T.. anyone else experiencing the same problem? How can I resolve this? A fellow blogger told me that I can't fix it =[, does that mean it will always stay like this? =`[...I'm totally unmotivated to blog =[

Moreover, I have to pick out my courses for next year and it's pain in the tush! because it's my last year and I can't mess this up! I need to make sure I have the right courses and the right amount of credits so I've been slacking off a WHOLE lot......But I am pretty active on Twitter. Follow me there if you want small little updates, giveaways, freebies, awesome sales like 60% off ELF, food posts, mini hauls and quick tips and tricks on how to beautify yourself. Tweet me and I'll make sure I follow back =].

Okay, lets move on with this post. Tiffo wanted to know how I liked the  ELF Cream Eyeliner when she saw it on my ELF haul here. Yes, it was a month ago!!!, I really am lazy, no? So here we go, read the captions below each picture for the Review =]

ELF Cream Eyeliner in Black, comes with a mini angled brush which I love!
Buy it here
$3 (but never checkout without a coupon code!)

*Ignore the other swatches, focus on the black liner please =P*

One layer of swatch, went on smoothly, dried quickly and it was very pigmented
Using the brush provided, you can easily line your eyes as well as tight lining you upper lash lines
With an eye primer, this eyeliner will stay better but still smudging a little
Without an eye primer, this eyeliner will smudge like no other, you will end up with a raccoon eye

*Sorry about the bad photo quality, I took it with the front camera of my phone*
After 5 hours: oily eye lids, hot and humid weather
The line is already less pigmented, needs touch ups if you want a sharp and define line
However, if you want a more natural and softer look then this eyeliner would be great because throughout the day, it will get less intense
*Wearing L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black on upper lashes only*

With a primer: I used ELF's $1 eyelid primer, maybe it will stay even better if I used a better primer?
Hope you can see a small amount of smudging on the lower outer corner of my eye, not too visible but it's there.

Without a primer: Yes, I went to school with one eye primed and not the other, came home having one raccoon eye =P
You can clearly see how badly smudged this cream eyeliner is without a primer! So make sure to use a primer of any kind! Even the $1 ELF eyelid primer helped a whole lot =].

Overall,
PROS:
- The formula of the liner is very pigmented, and creamy therefore making the application super easy
- The brush that it came with is very soft to the touch but stiff enough to perfect a line of any thickness (maybe not a super thin line but still loveable to use it to tight line)
- Can easily do a winged eye-look
- Can easily reverse a mistake by wiping it because the staying power is not that good
- Affordable and suitable for beginners
- Would repurchase it just because it's so user friendly, inexpensive and works fine with a primer
CONS:
- Does not stay long
- Easily smudged
- Cute but over packaged product
- Brush is very short and tiny, can't be easily found in my makeup bag

Has anyone else tried this cream liner before? How do you like it? Any inexpensive primer alternatives (I just ordered their mineral eyeshadow primer which I heard is a dupe to the urban decay primer potion)?




Hope my problems gets resolved quickly or else you all might not see me smile anymore =[




**Alx**