My Makeup Cull

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

The title of this post does seem a bit terrifying, doesn't it? I've done friend culls on Facebook many times before when I felt like there were too many people that I didn't know or talk to, but never makeup, except for when something expired or just plain sucked. After buying my new desk, the IKEA Micke desk, building it (there's something so therapeutic about building flatpacks, I love it!) and chucking all of my makeup into the main drawer, it was obvious that I had way too much stuff, and a lot of them were going to waste. They had to go.

Don't worry, I didn't throw them into the bin, except for the ones that have been in contact with my eyes such as eyeshadow pencils and mascara, and products that were just plain terrible.

I'm going to sort these into groups of Good, Bad and Ugly. I figure this will help my readers identify which ones I liked, and which ones I didn't without having them all mixed up and confusing.

The Good

1. e.l.f. Cosmetics Little Black Beauty Book - Warm Edition:
This one is actually a nice palette, it has such a great variety of shades and the colour payoff is good, maybe somewhat patchy (read: not amazing) and, in most cases, feels buttery. I'm giving this one away because I've got a few other eyeshadow palettes, not counting the two Makeup Revolution palettes that I recently ordered. It didn't make sense to keep this one, especially when I rarely use it, so I'm giving it to my sister.

2. Australis Blush in Rosy Cheeks:
I picked this up from a bargain bin from Priceline when I was just getting into makeup again. The colour is really nice, and the pigmentation is great, but I've already got loads of blush, and this one has a broken lid. I know that's a superficial reason, but I find that broken lids leads to unnecessary messes, and that is something I'd like to avoid as much as possible.

3. e.l.f. Cosmetics Essential Bronzer in Sunkissed:
I picked this up as my first bronzer, but I've since come to realise that I rarely ever wear bronzer, especially when this one is sort of shimmery and I prefer a matte finish. It's a really nice colour but just doesn't belong in my drawer where it will never be used. Off it goes to my sister.

4. Milani Cosmetics Multitasking Face Powder in Medium:
All in all, this is a good product, though I haven't worn it for more than a couple of hours so I have no idea how long it lasts. It isn't chalky or non-pigmented, and the attractive lace detail in the powder brings hearts to my eyes, but this is a tad too pink for me so I can't wear it.

5. e.l.f. Cosmetics Studio Matte Lip Colour in Praline:
I'm aware there is a lot of e.l.f. products on this list, I've got nothing against the brand, really, it's just that my attentions are captivated by brands like Milani and, just recently, Makeup Revolution. I love the formula of these Matte Lip Colours, and I have it in Rich Red as well but this colour just doesn't suit me. For some reason shades like this, especially when matte, makes my lips look purplish/grayish and it looks dry and unhealthy. Not something I fancy, to be honest.

6. e.l.f Cosmetics Essential Lipstick in Captivating:
It broke. And this shade, while lovely on swatches and in the tube, just doesn't work on me. Otherwise, this is a good budget lipstick. I have three other shades that are all, thankfully, still intact and work with my skin tone.

7. essence Cosmetics Lipstick in All About Cupcake:
I picked this up at a warehouse sale for just $1, which isn't too bad. I'm only tossing this because it's really sheer and doesn't not last long as a lipstick. However, it could probably work as a lip balm. Hmm, this should probably have gone in 'The Bad' list...

8. essence Cosmetics Eyeshadow in Happy Hour:
Excellent colour payoff, lovely texture, beautiful shade, and all of the other positive adjectives I could probably slap on it. Why am I getting rid of it? I have another essence Eyeshadow in almost exactly the same shade and qualities, only slightly better, so I don't see any point in having two in my set.

9. e.l.f. Cosmetics Studio Eye Enhancing Mascara in Black Diamond:
The brush is really nice, and works amazingly with my stubbornly curly lashes (who'd a thunk someone would complain about curly lashes?) because bigger brushes get product on my eyelids no matter how careful I am or how long I take doing the mascara. It has a really nice formula and doesn't lengthen my lashes much, but it somewhat adds volume. I like it because it has really good separating abilities and doesn't clump the lashes together. However.

Glitter. I dislike glitter mascaras, it takes years for me to remove it from my eyes at the end of the day. At least I'm keeping the brush.

The Bad

1. e.l.f. Mineral Eyeshadow Primer:
I've had a bad run with eyeshadow primers so far, and this one does not work for me. It creases like there's no tomorrow. It's not the worst primer I've come across, and it does work for other people, but I'll stick with my holy grail primer, Wet n Wild's Fergie Take On The Day Eyeshadow Primer. I went on their website and found out their new primer's ingredients are identical to that of the Fergie one, so I'm going to try that one out soon.

2. Savvy by DB Long Wearing Eyeliner in Granite:
This one isn't as pigmented as I'd like it to be. I bought this for my waterline but stupid me didn't think to check whether it was waterproof. It also has shimmer! Boo.

3. e.l.f. Cosmetics Corrective Concealer:
To be fair, this is probably a good palette if I had more patience to work with it and warm it up, but compared to LA Girl's HD Pro Concealers, it looks dry and cakey on me. It's good on other people and does conceal blemishes somewhat. I think blending may be a bit of a chore with this one, though I can't really remember. I haven't used this one in several months.

4. Natio Pen Eyeliner in Black:
This claims to be waterproof, but I can tell you that it is not. I saw a bit of it pooling at the corner of my eyes every few hours and had to keep wiping it away. At first this is really decently pigmented and goes on nicely, but after a few weeks it starts getting patchy. Not only that, the felt tip also wears down after just a handful of uses, which makes it useless for thin lines. Boo.

5. e.l.f. Cosmetics Studio HD Mattifying Cream Foundation in Sand:
To be fair, this applies like a dream and feels quite natural on, however, I got a shade too light. And it does jack shit for my oil-prone skin and within hours this was melting off. Mattifying, my arse.

6. e.l.f. Cosmetics Studio BB Cream in Light:
I actually really liked this one, it's natural-looking and applies easily without streaking. However, it's a tad too pink, and somehow makes me break out. Not something I'd like to deal with, thank you very much.

The Ugly

1. e.l.f. Cosmetics Waterproof Eyeliner Crayon - Black:

I bought this on iHerb to use for my waterline, and while this had intense colour payoff and looked great, it stung my eyes so much I couldn't see at all, and my eyes watered up so much it looked like I was weeping. I think it is because of the oils in it. Whenever I use oil, be it coconut or olive oil, to remove eye makeup, it burns like a mofo. It's not necessarily a bad product as a whole, but for me, it is terrible.

2. Tarte's Lights, Camera, Lashes Mascara: I hate this product. It's dry, clumpy and just plain unpleasant to wear. I don't get the hype around this one, but... ugh.

3. e.l.f. Cosmetics Essential Brightening Eyeliner in Black:
I didn't use this more than once. It's hard and uncomfortable to put on, and the pigmentation is bleh for the waterline. It doesn't last at all either.

4. Savvy by DB Flawless Finish Foundation:
*hisses loudly* This thing oxidises so badly I could not bear wearing it any longer than a few hours. At first this matches my skin colour perfectly, the only drugstore CF foundation I've ever found to match my skin, but then it goes orange and makes me cry. I had to mix it in with the BB Cream to stop it from oxidising, which worked for the most part. Then I realised that this one made me break out so much so I stopped wearing it.

5. Wet n Wild XXL Lash Mascara/H2O Proof Liquid Eyeliner in Black:
Nope, just nope on both of these. Yes, I lumped them together. I did a review on them a few months back, and my opinion of these just have not changed. The mascara is still thick, clumpy and flaky ,and the eyeliner is still shiny and flaky.

6. e.l.f. Cosmetics Mineral Infused Face Primer:
I've hated this ever since I first tried it out. It settled into my dry, flaky areas and made my base look awful. It also clogged my pores and made me break out, and did not help with the oiliness. In fact, it made it worse when I wore makeup. Hell, it also settled into creases which made me look older. The only upside to this primer is that it fills pores really nicely, which creates a really smooth complexion.

That's it for the makeup cull. I am glad to be rid of these products, it freed up quite a bit of room for my vanity, and I can't wait to try out more stuff. A handful of these are going to my sister, and hopefully she'll be able to make use of the good ones, even if she doesn't wear or like makeup that much. At least she has something on hand for special occasions without needing me to bring my entire kit to put her face on for her.

That's it for today! It's not even 10:30am and I'm dreadfully tired. I had to wake up at 7 in time for the window repairer to come past and fix my bedroom window. I have a very stupid cat that somehow, SOMEHOW, managed to completely shatter the window yesterday afternoon and leave behind a repair bill that has me and Sean in tears. Part of me is still in shock because I just cannot understand how a little and basically weighless cat managed to do that. She was just sitting on the windowsill, cleaning herself, and then I hear a loud crack which nearly made me shit my pants and lo and behold, goodbye window. I just... I can't even...

This is impossible to comprehend. Dumb cat.

Have you tried any of these products? What are your opinions on them? Do you have any funny stories about your pets?