Hellooo my loves!
Finally, after I’m now in the swing of the university life again, I’ve returned to the blogging world and it feels good (albeit slightly scary!) to be back. For those of you who don’t know, I began university for the third time- third time lucky eh?- in September last year. I began first year at the University of York studying Psychology in September 2016 but after having to drop out due to debilitating anxiety, redoing first year and having to drop out again, I took a year out to look after my mental wellbeing (more on this in another post!) and that is when I started blogging!
Well then where are all of your blog posts then? Yeah, good question. After cancelling the contract with the company who was hosting my site (due to student financial worries) and not renewing it, I lost all of my posts. Naive Lizzie thought they would all be automatically stored on WordPress, and, when I found out this wasn’t the case, it was too late to retrieve the data. So I’m taking this loss as an opportunity to start afresh, as Lizzie who now studies English literature at the University of Buckingham (and has just completed first year!!) and a Lizzie who has learnt a heck of a lot and can now hopefully give advice and figure the trials of being a twenty-something with you lovely lot around me.
Something I have really become aware of during my blogging break is the state of the environment. That may seem a little harsh calling it a ‘state’, but that is what it is due to the careless actions of us humans and it makes me so sad. Don’t worry, I haven’t turned into a preaching, imposing nutter with no boundaries, I’ve just become more aware of my actions including what I eat, how I use energy resources and what I use in my beauty routine. Which brings me to this blog post! I have been making a conscious effort to try to only buy from vegan and cruelty-friendly brands to help our furry friends and our environment. I first tried E.L.F. (which stands for eyes, lips, face) in my York days- I had run out of my usual eyebrow product and saw that E.L.F. had a cheap one in Superdrug and I have used it ever since! (not the same one though, bc that would be gross)
Since then I have dipped my toe into the world of E.L.F. with little purchases here and there, but, seeing as they are completely cruelty-free and vegan, I thought I would spend a bit of dosh and try a whole range of products to see what E.L.F. really is as a brand, both in quality and effectiveness.
So, here are the things I got:
Firstly, the product I was most apprehensive to try, the Puff Puff Primer. Now I’m a gal who has never smoked cannabis and never intends to, but it’s been really fascinating learning more about the hemp plant and its benefits. With my anxiety, I get really scared about being in a situation where something means I am out of control (general anesthetic, no thank youuu) and so the general idea of putting a plant that can disorientate you near my senses was a little weird at first, but honestly, it’s such a lovely, brightening product! It doesn’t smell like cannabis at all, and instead just smells like a fresh lotion. The primer has a handy little pump and just helps to wake me up in the morning. Whilst it does brighten my skin, as for helping my makeup last longer, I’m going to have to give this one a fail. For some reason, my makeup just looks patchier and my base products definitely start to separate a few hours into wearing. So, for this product, it’s going to be a brightener for those non-makeup days when my face needs a bit of a refreshment.
Then we have the Oil Control Liquid Lotion, which so far I am not a fan of. My skin is combination, with dry areas around my nose, but an oily t-zone and so I thought I would try this pretty pink product to try and calm the ol’ nose down come the hot weather. But, alas, not only does this feel like it’s clogging my face, it doesn’t do anything to help combat the oiliness, which is annoying because the reviews I read said otherwise. Let me know if you’ve tried this one- did it work for you?
The Hydrating Coconut Mist is just that really, a mist that hydrates your skin a little. The bottle is such a lovely blue hue and it smells like coconuts and holidays (for me, anyway) and so even if the impact of this mist is minimal, it’s still refreshing as heck and gives my mood a boost. It also replaces my Caudalie one which I bought in my days I didn’t check if things were cruelty-free or vegan and it’s a welcome replacement.
And now, onto the makeup!
First we have the Beautifully Bare Foundation Serum (with SPF 25 – I got the shade ‘Fair/Light’ for reference) which I thought I was going to love. As a teenager, I bloody CAKED on the thickest foundation to cover my cyst-like spots, which, of course, just created more of an acne problem! Now, I love a lightweight foundation and a heavy-duty concealer to cover my ever-dark under-eye circles. However, this products is as lightweight as a foundation can possibly be, as is more like putting tinted water on your face no matter how much I shake the bottle. For me, it doesn’t even out my skin tone at all and it just feels a bit pointless to be honest.
However, my favourite product from this whole extravaganza is the Hydrating Camo Concealer which is just the best concealer I have ever tried. Think the coverage of the L’Oreal Paris Infallible concealer or the Collection (2000 for us golden oldies) concealer but with hydration. It’s honestly just bladdy fantastic and when I saw that Francesca Perks (if you know of her, you’ll know how fab she is!) has also been using it on her glorious face, I knew it was a good’en.
And finally, the little bits. The Golden Bronzer is so-so. It helps to yellow-up a too-pink/red toned bronzer but I don’t think I would use it by itself unless I was going for a barely-there look. The Day to Night Lipstick Duo in ‘Need it Nudes’ was also just okay. I love the idea and was hopeful these would be super long-lasting but the colour is just a bit wishy-washy and there are a lot of reviews saying the lipstick has broken in the packaging after just a few uses so I think this is just a testament to the product representing its price in this case. The SRSLY Satin Lipstick in ‘Nectar’ and the freebie Matte Lip Color (in ‘Cranberry’) are both good formulas, but they just don’t match up to the swatches online. They are both a lot brighter which doesn’t work too well for a gal who prefers more neutral shades! Still nice though and for me not a waste of money. Also just a quick mention of the other freebie I got which was the Prismatic Lip Gloss in ‘Rose Quartz’ which is GORGEOUS and I’ll be using it in photos at some point, but not something I would wear on the daily because lip glosses are just too short-lasting and messy for me.
And there we have it! My favourite products are definitely the Hydrating Camo Concealer and the Hydrating Coconut Mist which have become part of my everyday makeup routine. I also just want to mention that all of these products are incredibly affordable, and so even if these products haven’t worked for me, I don’t feel like I’ve really lost anything because it’s all a part of the experience! Also just remember that because something doesn’t work for me, it doesn’t mean it won’t work for you so try things that you think YOU might enjoy.
Thanks so much for reading my loves, It’s good to be back!
With love always,
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