Ok… ok… I know. I went a wee crazy at E.L.F.’s end of the year sale. I got 12 regular items, and 5 free gifts for a grand total of SEVENTEEN new products and tools to try (!!!). In my defense this all cost me only $26 and change. One of the mascaras was only $.37! I had to spend $25 to get the free gift AND free shipping? soooo, I threw in some things for my sister ❤

The lips! I decided to try some exfoliators since I wear a lot of lipstick and my lips can get pretty dried out after a few days. I also picked up a lipstick remover for some of those more stubborn lipsticks (Tarte brand lipsticks I’m looking at you!), and some lip tools… because apparently that was the only type of brush I did not currently own. The eyes! I was in desperate need of mascara. It is one thing I wear daily, and blow through like it is going out of style. Since most of these were under $1 I went crazy and got three, and a mascara primer to try! Anybody tried primer before? I’m excited! Also, shimmer eyeliner pencil, cuz shimmer. Prezzies for my sis! She needed new beauty sponges and one was $5, but this set was on sale for $7! Might as well get all three! (and maybe she’ll let me keep one). Also, I swear by this mist stuff to keep my makeup in place, so I snagged her a matte magic mist spray to keep her’s in place and keep the shine down.Free gifts! I had no idea what NYE free gift they were sending me? So it was a pleasant surprise ❤ I will always take more mascara…

Review time! What I have tried so far:

1. the free gift lip gloss–I was nervous to try because I normally shy away from cheaper lipsticks/glosses because I have sensitive lips, but I thought I’d give it a go since it was free. I slathered it on and it went on pretty smooth. I had to do a few layers/smudges to get it just right, but once I did it stayed in place and wasn’t too sticky. I left it on for about two hours and it stayed comfy and non-sticky the whole time with no tingling or irritation.
2. That brings me to review #2! That lip gloss was on there, so I had to use my new lipstick remover to get it off. Again, nervous to use this because my lips are sensitive, but it took the lip gloss off without irritating my lips or causing any dryness. It tasted yummy and was super easy to use.
3. Which brings me to review #3! I tried the rose oil lip scrubber. I was going to try the other brown sugar one, but both the packaging and product appeared used and/or damaged :(. Anywho, the rose one smells amazing, tastes yummy, and totally exfoliated my lips without being too harsh. It left them smooth and didn’t dry them out! I finished with some vaseline to seal in some moisture and my lips feel great!
4. One of the things I bought that I was totally unsure of, but thought oh what the hey! it’s only $.75, try it! is the shimmer eyeliner pencil. First of all, it has a sharpener built into the lid!? I was not expecting that! I’m not going to lie, though… it very well could have been there in the fine print, but I just threw it in my shopping cart at the word shimmer (!!). It went on smooth and precise, and smudged well into the charcoal color I use daily–perfect for a night out!
5. The only so-so review of the bunch. I tried the baked eye shadow included as a free gift and it is pretty baked and dry. It went on thin, and didn’t have much pigmentation. This is one I will probably pass along to another one of my lady friends to try since I am already pretty inundated with eye shadows.

Did any of you get any great products over the holidays that you absolutely love?! Share your thoughts and pics in the comments!