e.l.f. Disney Villains Sets in Maleficent, Evil Queen - Swatches, Photos, Review

I get so very nostalgic whenever I see products referencing Disney! While I haven't seen Snow White or Sleeping Beauty (I was more of an Aladdin and The Little Mermaid girl) I of course recognize the iconic characters featured in these little e.l.f Disney Villains makeup sets. I'm sure these will appeal to the women, like myself, who grew up on a steady diet of Disney cartoons and sparkling princess costume gowns!

e.l.f offers three different makeup sets, all limited edition and currently available at Walgreens stores for $9.99 each: Maleficent Sinister Smoky Eye, Cruella Evil Everyday Eye, and Evil Queen Devious Dramatic Eye. Each set contains eight eyeshadows (four for a 'day' look, four for a 'night' look), two lip/cheek pencils, a pair of false lashes with glue, eye primer, and a liquid liner. The inside packaging also contains instructions for creating a night and day look using the products provided.

Evil Queen:

Top to Bottom, L to R (day to night): One Bite, Vanity, Narcissistic, Potion, Fairest of the Land, Majesty, Peddler's Cloak, Poison Apple

The two lip/cheek pencils:

Maleficent:

Top to Bottom, L to R (day to night): Spindle, Sceptre, Fog of Doom, Fauna, Misfortune, Forest of Thorns, Deep Sleep, Diablo

The two lip/cheek pencils:

Some nice things going on here! Maleficent blew me away - most of the eyeshadows were super soft, decently pigmented (just look at Diablo!), and the only disappointing colors were Fog of Doom and Fauna, the matte purple and green; they were somewhat powdery, patchy, and difficult to apply evenly. However, I can't really bring myself to care as the rest of the palette is so, so disgustingly awesome. Evil Queen's eye shades were a tad lighter and subtler, but not too bad. Quality-wise, I wholeheartedly recommend Maleficent. Evil Queen is okay, but perhaps not worth purchasing if you already have a decent makeup collection unless you are a Disney collector lured by the limited edition-ness of these sets. 

I'll post Cruella soon!

Again, these sets are available from Walgreens in-stores at $9.99 each.

Are you a fan of these Disney-inspired sets? Thanks for reading, I really appreciate it! Please follow me if you like the contents of this blog :)

e.l.f. Holiday Nail Polish Set - Review, Swatches, Photos

Have you spotted any holiday displays or products at your favorite makeup haunts yet? Seems I can't round the corner without bumping into festive reminders of the upcoming celebratory season! On the one hand I am neither ready nor particularly excited for the forthcoming piles of snow and sheets of ice, weather-related traffic delays, blistering, finger-numbing cold, or the days of work required to prepare a ten-course Christmas Eve dinner for fourteen plus family members and friends; On the other hand, I'm always up for a hot cup of cocoa while watching the snow fall outside, being perpetually doused with a deluge of decorations and Christmas music at the local shops, and breaking icicles off our doorframe (love doing that!). As they say (or, at least as the English author wrote), it [is] the best of times, it [is] the worst of times... :)

In any case, this little e.l.f. nail polish set I purchased at Target for $5 gives me hope that the next couple of months will indeed be filled more with tidings of joy and merriness than with the neuroticism, panic, and general surliness that the winter incites in me. (I have recurring nightmares where everyone arrives for Christmas Eve dinner and nothing's ready. Subsequently everyone flips out, disowns me, and leaves me with only several dozen pounds of half-cooked meat, a few sacks of potato, and a bottle or two of cheap vodka to keep me company.)

First up is Golden Goddess, a sheer light gold with silver glitter:

This was two coats. Maybe I'm losing my mind, but I kind of like this lacquer by itself (though obviously it's great for layering, too) - it's fun but still subdued and friendly for some (many?) workplaces.

Now, my favorite - Metal Madness! This is a deep, silvered charcoal frost with tiny, sparse, multi-colored glitter!

Two coats, again. I have to mention how much I ADORE the colorful glitter? It brings Metal Madness from a plain old gray shimmer to something playful and pretty unique! In my stash, at least, I don't believe I have a similar color.

This is Mod Mauve, a putty mauve creme:

Mod Mauve is a glossy neutral and this was two coats. It's nice and I like it, but it's nothing to write home about. Moving on...

Red Velvet, a beautiful garnet shimmer:

Two coats. Red Velvet has that 'lit-from-within' quality, like it's resting atop glowing embers. Depending on the angle, this shade flashes dark pink.

This is two coats of Royal Purple, a grape shimmer:

Royal Purple is vibrant and feels like it belongs in a spring/summer collection, but I'm pleased that e.l.f. included it in the holiday set! This lacquer has a very similar finish to Red Velvet and flashes fuchsia in the right light.
e.l.f.'s nail polish collection is great wintery fun and a good value at $5. I found the consistency of the formula to be decent, a tad thin but very much manageable. The only issue I had was with the brushes - two were jagged and uneven, and in one a bristle was sticking out (I pulled it out, and the brush was perfectly fine afterward). This means you have to be extra careful when applying to get a smooth line, but it's not too much of a bother and certainly not a deal-breaker.

I must say, I feel that Mod Mauve is a throwaway polish and a bit of a missed opportunity. While the other four colors harmonize beautifully, MM shrinks back against its shimmering, sparkling cohorts. It's like the four shades are out partying, painting the town red (or gold, or violet, or charcoal 8D) and Mauve is stuck at home, nursing a massive hangover. I don't protest the addition of a creme polish to this set per se, but why a dirty mauve? It doesn't scream 'holiday!' to me.

Nevertheless, this little set is very much worth it! Have you picked up any of the e.l.f. holiday sets?

e.l.f. Studio Cream Eyeliners in Black, Gunmetal - Swatches, Photos

I liked the performance and price of the e.l.f. cream eyeliners I reviewed here so much, I bought two more!

To be honest I didn't test these for wear time (I hope they're comparable to the good results I had with Plum Purple and Metallic Olive), but I though I'd share swatches and photos.

Flash

No flash

The black is very.. black! 8D The metallic is very shiny and pretty, and I'm excited to try it for perhaps a smoky or otherwise dramatic eye.. These are $3 each, purchasable at Target or through the e.l.f site. For a detailed review of e.l.f.'s cream liner formula, see this post.

That's all I've got. Off to enjoy this fine Saturday evening, as I hope you are doing too :)

e.l.f. Studio Cream Eyeliners in Metallic Olive, Plum Purple - Review, Swatches, Photos

There are some things I've not the willpower to resist - a good sample sale; stopping by Starbucks after work on cold evenings for a soothing green tea latte, non-fat with double matcha; making kissy faces at my pup when he's trying to sleep, which annoys him to no end but brings me a great deal of pleasure :); documentaries, especially on the subject of classical music, dance, or the fine arts (I'm not much of a fiction fan, either in print or in cinema); eating round foodstuffs (cookies, bread, etc.) in a circle from the outside to the center; and, the only item relevant to this blog really, untraditionally colored cream or gel eyeliners!

I was thrilled when I found that e.l.f., an inexpensive drugstore brand, offered shades beyond the conventional black and dark brown. I purchased two of the Studio Cream Eyeliners ($3 each) in Purple Plum and Metallic Olive.

The containers are adorable, much sturdier than the $3 price tag warrants!

L to R: Metallic Olive, Plum Purple

L to R: Metallic Olive, Plum Purple with flash

The colors are both gorgeous! Here they are swatched -

L to R: Metallic Olive, Plum Purple

L to R: Metallic Olive, Plum Purple with flash

I'm enamored with Olive especially - look at that fine gold shimmer! Brilliant and beautiful. Plum is a deep, velvety royal purple and also very, very lovely.

In terms of wear time, these e.l.f. liners are tops. I wore both for 12+ hours with no smudging and very minimal fading. I also tried rubbing at the eyeliner vigorously and both persevered against budging very well (if I'm nit-picking, Metallic Olive was just a stitch more hardy than Plum Purple). I'm very impressed by e.l.f.'s formula and how well these creams perform. I want them alllll now, and with the bargain-basement price I might just allow myself to have them :D They have my highest recommendation!

Thanks for reading! Are you an e.l.f. fan?