I'm a Blog Giveaway Winner!

This is a few days late, but along with some of the other things I've been winning lately, one that I am super excited about is Beauty by Krystal's Krystal's BIG Thank You Giveaway! I was searching for information about a new makeup company I had discovered, e.l.f. (which I have posted about before), and found her videos. They're extremely helpful for someone like me who had never ordered anything from them before to see what the products actually look like and to get her opinion on them. So I decided to enter her giveaway. Well, I won first prize!!! I'm so, so, so excited to receive this.

1st PRIZE INCLUDES (items asterisked were received from PR):

ELF 141 Piece Master Makeup Collection

ELF Blooming Eyeshadow Collection

ELF Brightening Eye Color in Drama

ELF Nail Polish in Clear

China Glaze Nail Lacquer in Sexy Silhouette

*Peacekeeper Cause-Metics "Perfect As Is" Lip Balm in Tinted Rose

*Peacekeeper Cause-Metics Eco-Sheer Lip Gloss in Stillness

*CND The Look - Perfectly Bare Nail Polish duo pack

*CND Scentsations Hand & Body Lotion in Mango & Coconut

*CND Scentsations Hand & Body Wash in Mango & Coconut

*Cricket Technique Thermal #390 2" Tourmaline Ionic Brush

iViScents iSmell Soap in Sandcastle

iViScents Towel Treat in Chocolate Cupcake

ULTA 4 Piece Lip Glossary Set

ULTA Anti-Bacterial Hand Lotion in Pomegranate

ULTA Anti-Bacterial Hand Soap in Pomegranate

Cherry Culture Lip Balm in Bubble Gum

Kitten & Vixen Liner Pencil Sharpener

VALUE: $180

I haven't tried any of these products aside from the clear e.l.f. nail polish, so I'm so excited to get a chance to try out new things. Thank you so much for hosting the giveaway Krystal. Head on over to her blog and youtube pages and check her out! I'll post photos when I receive the items. 

Extremely Good Luck

I don’t mean to brag, but I have won 3 things since Saturday! I’m so excited! I've had some extremely good luck these past few days. My boyfriend s a little disgusted by this since he says he never wins anything, but this past Christmas at his work party he won an iHome, so I don't know what he's talking about, lol :)

First, on Sunday, I found out that I won a Schick Giveaway hosted by the lovely Beauty By Krystal. The prize was a Limited Edition Schick Quattro for Women Razor AND a Schick Quattro for Women Trimstyle, both featuring a NEW conditioning strip enriched with Acai Berry and Jojoba Complex designed for a comfortable and incredibly smooth shave you could skip a day or two. Hopefully they’ll arrive soon!

Second, I received a notification this morning that I was one of 25K to win a NEW HD Advanced Lip Color from Milani. I entered on their facebook page some time last week. I didn’t get to choose the color, but they said “We made every effort to match your preferred color and truly hope you enjoy your new makeup.” I can’t wait to see what they’ve matched for me!

Third, as I’ve mentioned before, I’m a member of a program called House Party. You sign up and apply to host parties that are supplied by different groups and organizations. They held a “Twitter Party” earlier this morning, and I was the first to answer a particular question with the correct answer. The question in particular was “In what year did Congress recognize the Pledge of Allegiance?” Now I don’t want to mislead anyone into thinking that I knew this off the top of my head, because I didn’t, but I was able to successfully Google my way to the correct answer and respond within 15 seconds. That I am proud of :) My prize? I won a VIP Party Pass which allows me to host any party of my choosing so long as I match the criteria the company requires for their party demographic. So, if the company/organization wants families with children as their hosts, I wouldn’t be able to host since I do not have children of my own, etc. I don’t mind though. I’m hoping to host a party with really awesome loot. I love free stuff and I know my friends do as well!

Now I've entered quite a few giveaways so far and I plan to keep on entering as many as I can. Here's to hoping I can bring home some sweet stuff!

e.l.f.

I recently discovered e.l.f. (eyes-lips-face) makeup. They're a company that produces inexpensive cosmetics that are supposed to compete with the high end brands such as Urban Decay, Smashbox, MAC, etc. I didn't know anything about them until Groupon had a deal last week for $35 worth of makeup for $15. I decided to take a look at their website to see what they had, and I immediately wanted so many things! Their products range anywhere from $1 - $6 for individual items. They also have kits and packages you can purchase, that are more expensive, but I’ve noticed they’re not necessarily a better deal. They cost the same as buying the items individually, so if there’s something in the kit that you’re not very interested, search for the items and add them to your cart separately. Then you can still have all the items in the kit, but you at least have them in your choices of colors, styles, etc.

So, after discovering e.l.f., I called my mom and asked if my parents had any plans for my upcoming birthday gift yet. She said no, so I asked for money to buy their makeup. My current makeup collection is several years old and makeup can go bad, and I had been hoping to update/overhaul it anyway, so it all worked out! After signing up for e.l.f.’s mailing list, I was sent a code for 50% off their Studio line of products so I wanted to order before the code expired. 

I hear from a lot of different people  on their message boards and fb page that their basic shipping was pretty terrible. It’s $6.95, you have to wait approximately 5 days for processing, then another 5+ days for the item to ship to you. I paid and extra $4.95 ($11.90 total) for the 3 day shipping, which was 1 day processing time, then 3 days to ship FedEx Priority. Unfortunately, they won’t deliver on weekends, so this extended my ship time, but I think it was worth the extra money not to have to wait 2 weeks for my order to arrive. My shipment came in yesterday and this, ladies, is what you can get for $100 (plus shipping) and 50% off the Studio line from e.l.f.:

My dear boyfriend went down our apartment complex's office to pick up the package for me and he was very surprised by the size of the order also. He was expecting a small box, but nope! This is everything:

e.l.f. Studio Endless Eyes Pro Eyeshadow Palette – Limited Edition

e.l.f. Essential Professional Complete Set of 12 Brushes

e.l.f. Essential Nail Polish Sets (5 piece) in Hot

I wasn’t able to order everything I needed to revamp my makeup collection, so I went back and placed a much smaller order to pick up a few more things. That should be here on Tuesday. I also lucked out because e.l.f. also has a special coupon code for their facebook fans on their fb page that gives 52% off of the Studio line. The code expires Monday, June 27th, so if you’re interested, hurry on over there!

I’ve tried a few of the items and so far I’m in love! The foundation is fabulous. It doesn’t feel greasy or heavy on my skin. The e.l.f. Essential Super Glossy Lip Shine in Pink Kiss (#2806) is great. It’s a bit sticky, but it smells and tastes great. I’m wearing my e.l.f. Essential Waterproof Eyeliner Pen in Plum (#7307) and I found that it was easy to apply and have had no problems with it. The e.l.f. Studio Blush in Candid Coral (#83133) looks great with my complexion. I was iffy about this, thinking it would be too pink, but it’s not. I’m so excited for my other products to arrive! If there’s anything you would like me to review or take more photos of, just let me know!


Thank you mom and dad for helping me get all this! Great birthday present!