NOTW: Dark Navy

As the title already explained itself, I'm going dark navy on the nails this week!

I bought this polish about a year ago and never got the chance to apply it. This week I decided it was time to experiment :)

I've never been a huge fan of blue nails on myself, because I happen to LOVE the color on other people. I just don't think it suits me. What do you think?

ELF - Dark Navy

This Dark Navy is a gorgeous ... you guessed it, a dark navy, haha! Actually it looks like a black but with a blue sheen over it. Pretty darn beautiful, I must say!

1 single coat does the job and I love the formula of ELF' polishes. They apply easily and the formula isn't too thick but not too thin either. The brush is just the right size. I go over my nails 2 times: left, right, and I'm done! 2 coats will do the job and the color stays for a good 5 to 6 days, which I don't mind, because on day 7 I'm changing my mani anyway.

If you haven't heard of ELF before, it stands for Eyes Lips Face. It's an online site that provides cheap make up. From eye shadow 'till nail polished. They pretty much have it all in their online shop for a very affordable price.

One of my favorite polishes happens to be by the brand ELF. Says enough on how you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Drugstore items can rock your worlds as well! :)

NOTW: Mango Madness

I love to switch my NOTW's between natural and bright colors.
Since I had me some nude nails last week, I like to share my fun bright NOTW today with you girls.

ELF - Mango Madness

I've never hidden my love for coral, so I just had to try out a coral polish by ELF.

The brand ELF might be cheap, but that doesn't take away the quality from this varnish.
Admitting that light colors may need a few more coats, but richer colors will only require 1 coat.

I bought the ones with the improved formula, so I can't compare it with the old versions. But one thing is for sure, I'm loving me some ELF!

Although it looks more orange in the bottle and it looks more bright in the picture, but it's less in-your-face in real life. A beautiful coral color to slap on the nails during the warmer months.

A beautiful color that takes me back to the summer time for a week :)

Beauty meets food: Oh honey, honey, sugar sugar

Honey, just a delicious sweetener, or is that much more?


Let's go over some of the home remedies you can make with some honey:

• Hair: Have you been out a lot during the summer? Is your damaged from the UV rays, chlorine and the humidity? Well, let's pop out a honey mask to bring some shine and to take care of those split ends you have. Mix 1 cup of water with 2 table spoons of apple vinegar, 5 drops of rosemary oil and 1 tea spoon of that delicious honey. Leave it in for about 10 minutes, rinse it off and welcome back shiny hair!
• Face:
• Lips: Who doesn't dislike dry, chapped lips? Take some olive oil, brown sugar and a bit of honey, mix it up and scrub away! Your lips will be ready to be kissed like it has never been kissed before :)
• Scrub: Personally I like scrubs with bigger beeds in them, it makes me feel like my skin is actually being cleaned. But some of you prefer scrubs with the tiniest beeds. Instead of going out to the store and buying one, why not make one yourself? At least you're sure of what you're putting on your skin, right? Take your lip scrub, add some lemon juice and apply it to your face. This will get rid of the dead skin cells and it will leave your skin as smooth as a baby's bottom.
• Breakouts: Honey is antibacterial which will take on the impurities in your skin. Redness will reduce when honey is applied to sooth the inflammation.
• Body: 
• Throat: If you mix some pure honey with water (and maybe a tad of lemon juice), this can soothe a sore throat.
• Bath: Did you know that legend has it that Cleopatra loved taking milk&honey baths? Milk contains AHA (Alpha Hydroxy Acid) which can make the skin more firm and smooth. Honey contains enzymes will make the skin softer. Who needs fancy bath bombs if you can take a bath in Cleopatra style?
• Wax: Sometimes you just don't have the time to go to the beauty salon and get something waxed. You can make your own wax by mixing water, honey and brown sugar (lemon juice can be added if desired). Cook the sugar and water until it's caramelized, add the honey (and lemon juice) until it has reached it's boiling point. Set it aside and let it cool off before using it on your body.
• Scarves: Scarves, you're stuck with them for the rest of your life once they have appeared. Put on some raw honey, cover it with a bandage. Remove it the day afterwards and clean the skin.
• Sunburn: Although you should always wear sunblock before going out the door, a sunburn can always occur. Apply some honey to the sunburns to alleviate the pain.
• Moisturize: Add honey to some shea butter and you have just created your own moisturizer.

As to my first question... It's so much more than just a sweetener :)

NOTW: Fuchsia

Herro herro my beauties, and I'm back with another NOTW!

I have been dying to show you girls my love for this polish:

ELF: Fuchsia

As you can see it's a polish by ELF.
ELF stands for eyes lips face and is known for its cheap, yet qualitative make up goodies.

It's pretty dark rose in real life, although it shows a purple on the website...
It's opaque in 2 coats and has stayed put on my nails for almost an entire week o_O

Come on, you have to admit that for only 2,5€, that's a pretty darn good deal!

This polish is definitely my go to polish for winter 2012. Go ELF!

Elf haul

Ask any beauty guru this question: what's the cheapest online make up brand you can get? That's right, ELF. This brand stands for eyes lips face and it's known for its quality and cheap make up goodies. You can easily get items for 1$, and for those who can't afford high end products this is a great brand to express your love for make up!
I've heard so much about ELF and since I got a discount for my bday, I decided to get myself a treat :)

I got 2 eye shadows, 4 nails polishes and 3 blushes:

ELF haul

The eye shadows I got were 1 powder and 1 creamy one. They're both neutrals, and both have a nude and a brown color.

both: Butter Pecan

Below you'll find the swatches of these eye shadows.

creamy nude - creamy brown - nude powder - brown powder

It's quite obvious that the only pigmented one is the powdery brown/bronzy one. The rest is quite sheer, which was quite disappointing. But could I get really disappointed for a 1€ make up item?

The creamy one is very sheer and in spite of good reviews I'm not sure whether I'll be able to use this since I already have oily eye lids. I think this product will just slip away from my eye lids! I'll give this a try with and without a primer, we'll see what the end result will be.

The powder eye shadow looks quite good, it makes a good natural eye look, so yay for this one!

Then I got 4 nail polishes for 10€ for 4:

Mango Madness, Fuchia, Dark Navy, Mint Cream

They all look like the website displayed them, except for Fuchsia. I expected something more purple-like, this one's more on the pink side. I tried Mint Cream and it'll probably be needing 3 coats to have an opaque color. I will try Mango Madness very soon, so pics will be coming up soon! Nevertheless, I like all colors and can't wait to give these a try!

Last but not least: blushes:

Candid Coral - Peachy Keen

These blushes were 4€, which is still peanuts for a blush. I had quite high expectations for these, but unfortunately these were very VERY sheer. It gives a nice sheen on your cheeks, but that's it. I prefer to have some color on my apples, but these are okay for those who like the subtle look.

Glow

This blush is probably the cheapest pigmented blush I own. I paid 1€ for it, yes you read it correctly: 1€!
Since I was quite let down by the pigmentation of the blushes above, I didn't have high hopes for the cheaper one, but man oh man...do I like this blush! (too bad it doesn't show up on the swatch below though, boo!)



Here's a swatch of the 3 blushes:

Candid Coral - Peachy Keen - Glow

I tried to photograph the swatches properly but since I don't have good lighting the colors aren't shown very well :(

You can see that Candid Coral has more of a yellow undertone, while Peachy Keen is more on the pink side.
Glow on the other hand is just very pink. It's a very lovely color, but you have to be easy on this one when applying it to the cheeks, because you can easily put too much of this product which will make you look like a clown (a pretty clown though!)

It all comes to this: don't let the price decide whether the product will do the job or not. A big thumbs up for ELF for making this available as well for those who are on a lower budget...hip hip hooray!