I'm back! And a re-introduction

To all my followers,
I'm back! Finally! Thank you for following me, of course, and hanging in there as I finished up my studies. I've been thinking a lot about this blog and the posts I want to feature once I got the time. And the time is now! :)

Also, I wanted to reintroduce myself. Obviously, I'm Jessie.
I am officially a high school graduate and college student. I just finished up my summer orientation at my college and all registered for classes and everything. I will be studying international studies and political science.
Like every other beauty blogger, makeup is a passion. I do want to add, though, that I am not keen on the more expensive brands. I am just a student and don't have the disposable income that I will have once I have my own career. I have not used MAC. I do not own MAC. I believe in the quality of drugstore brands and will focus mainly on those, however I do have some higher end brands as well.
My other interests include politics, foreign languages, and world affairs. I'm an avid reader and super nerd.

I do not yet have a Youtube channel that I post tutorials on. I will start if I get enough followers on here and get positive reception. I am open to doing that as long as I have the time to commit to that.
For now I will post looks and reviews on this blog.

I was actually also considering making this into a bilingual blog and posting in both English and French. If that interests any of my Francophone followers, please let me know in the comments section below or on Twitter!

I am so excited to be back and posting. I am interested in following some more bloggers and becoming more involved in the beauty blogosphere. If you guys have any suggestions, etc. please comment below!

Also, if you want to follow me on Twitter or Instagram, both accounts are @jessiefrancaise

Again, thank you guys so much for your support and I look forward to posting on a much more frequent basis!

Senior Pictures! (PIC HEAVY!)

Hey guys :)

As you may know, I'm a senior in high school, so along with that comes the wonderful senior pictures. I decided against getting them done by the company that works through the school. One of my mom's coworkers does photography on the side and so I got them done by her. I got a lot more time, more poses, etc. for a much better deal. We went to my favorite area of the city and just took pictures wherever it felt right.

I wanted to show off my makeup :) I've never been more proud of any makeup that I've ever done. I did it similar to this post although some different products and a little varied.

I'll just post my favorites :)

 I couldn't possibly have a French-themed photo shoot without my Parisian fur scarf and French beret ;)

My beautiful skyline in the background <3

Sitting at my favorite Parisian cafe in town ;)

La Nuit - that's the original French version of Night by Elie Wiesel, one of my favorite classics of Jewish literature

I hope you guys enjoy this look as much as I did! If I start a Youtube channel this summer, this might just be my first look ;)

To all my followers, thank you again for your support. I've got much more posts coming up!

Also, if you follow me on Instagram or Twitter (@jessiefrancaise) I post looks and stuff a lot more frequently, as it's quicker than blog posts.

Thanks again! Any suggestions, comments, questions, just comment or let me know on Twitter! :)

Some recent looks I&apos;ve done

So now that I have my new iPhone, I've been playing around with Instagram a lot :) If you want to follow me, my name on there is the same as my Twitter: @jessiefrancaise

I wanted to show you guys some pictures I've posted within the last week, and if you'd like me to, I can recreate this looks in greater detail, maybe tutorials?

I hope you like :)

LOTD: Noir Précieux

Hello to all my beautiful followers! :)

Today I did a look with Bourjois's single baked eyeshadow in Noir Précieux. I got it probably over a year ago in a clearance at Ulta and it was such a good deal that I had to get it! Plus practically all the packaging is in French :) But the problem is it isn't very pigmented and because of that I haven't really known what to do with it. I decided to pick it back up again today to play around with it and another eyeshadow I haven't used much of. The other shadow I used was a light lilac that was a hand-me-down from my grandma. It's by Saisons Cosmetics, and when I looked this company up, it looks like it only sells at my grandma's country club! It doesn't even have a name, but it's just a simple, pretty color.

For the products I used:
Face:
MUFE HD primer
ELF Studio tinted moisturizer in Porcelain
Revlon Photoready foundation in Shell
NYX Concealer in a Jar in Fair
ELF Complexion Perfection powder
ELF blusher in Bronzed and Blushing
Covergirl Eye Enhancers in Pink Chiffon (as a highlight)

Eyes:
ELF mineral eye primer
NYX Eyebrow Cake powder
Saisons Cosmetics eyeshadow in Rosy Tan
Bourjois ombre à paupières in Noir Précieux
ELF cream eyeliner in Midnight
Wet n Wild Color Icon eyeliner in Black black
Revlon Grow Luscious mascara

Lips:
NYX Round Lipstick in Paris and Lip du Jour
ELF plumping lip glaze in Baby Doll

I hope you guys like it!
I am hoping I'll be posting a lot more now that I have a little time. I've got a lot of ideas!

Also, if you see products that I use a lot that you want me to review, just let me know and I'd be glad to!

Thanks again for following :)

LOTD: Pink and purple :)

Hey guys! I know it's been a while... I've been so incredibly busy with school and homework. But now I have an iPhone so using the Blogger app might make this a bit easier ;)

I was looking through some old makeup and found what used to be my absolute favorite palette. It's just a simple Neutrogena one with two colors but it looks great with my brown eyes. So I took it and created this look with it :)

Products used:
Face:
ELF Tinted Moisturizer
Revlon Photoready founndation
Shiseido highlighter
Bourjois blush (I forgot the name of the color)
NYX Tango with Bronzer (the leopard one)

Eyes:
NYX Eyebrow Cake powder
Neutrogena Nourishing eye duo in Sweet Dusk
ELF cream eyeliner in plum purple
Revlon Grow Luscious mascara

Lips:
NYX Round lipstick in Paris and Lip du Jour
Some Mentha Lipshine gloss

I hope you guys like this! Comment and tell me what you think or I'd you have any requests/suggestions for looks!

Thank you so much for reading and following my blog! Starting in April and May I should have more posts for you!

HUGE Review on ELF Quads (Pic heavy)

I've been wanting to do this review, but never had much time.
One of the biggest misconceptions I've seen in the world of makeup is that you have to spend a lot of money and get the nicest brands (MAC, etc.) to get a quality product and look good. This is so UNTRUE! I've never used a MAC product. Actually, my uncle got some free MAC products after a fashion show back when I was in middle school and gave me some, but I just didn't like them that much.

I found ELF a little over a year ago, and I've been very pleased with the products (in general).
At first, I was a little skeptical about trying the shadows. I mean, $1 quad? How good can that be? I thought all the people who gave great reviews had to be liars... until the day I tried them for myself. And let me tell you how wrong I was. The day I tried out the ELF quads was such a turning point in my life.

In French, we would say "Je n'ai rien à dire", meaning I have nothing to say because it's just so good. When you try it, it basically speaks for itself.

So I'll try to describe these quads to the best of my ability.

This is what ELF has to say: "Luxuriously smooth, pigmented formula provides your eyes with a bright and beautiful sweep of rich color. The formula blends into skin for a long lasting, beautiful effect. Each quad is comprised of 4 coordinating shades that allow for both natural and dramatic looks. Built-in mirror and applicator included."

My response: I wouldn't say it's luxuriously smooth, but they are relatively smooth. Some colors more than others. Pigmented - EXTREMELY! Bright and beautiful: YES! Long lasting: they last long with primer. I haven't tried them without. But I've put my makeup on at 6am, gotten too lazy to take it off before going to bed, wake up, and my makeup is still perfect.
Natural and dramatic : yes.

The built-in mirror is too small to use to apply to eyeshadow. No big deal.
The applicator is just a sponge-tip applicator. I never use those... I just throw them away.

Pros:

• Pigmentation is INSANE
• Price (who could beat $1?!?!!)
• They BLEND beautifully!
• I always get compliments when I wear this eyeshadow
• Long lasting with a primer (I just use the ELF primer - it's great)
• Easy to take off, doesn't stain
• You only need a little bit! (Meaning that the teeny tiny little eyeshadow pots last a lot longer than you think)

Cons:

• Fallout - that's to be expected
• They are powdery, there may be a little eyeshadow under your eyes when you get done, but for $1, who's to complain?!!?
• Some people complain that the pans are too small to get brushes in. This has NOT been a problem for me at all!!! They're small triangles, but it doesn't bother me at all.

Now for swatches...

This is what they look like in the pan:

Drama

Butternut

Hazy Hazel

Silver Lining

Luxe

Day 2 Night

Brownstone

And SWATCHES (warning: major pigmentation ahead ;) )

First one is without flash, then with flash

Drama : Just fyi, these pictures do not do Drama any justice - this one is my absolute favorite

Butternut : the pigmentation is just incredible. I mean, just LOOK!!!

Day 2 Night - This one gets me a million compliments all the time!

Brownstone - Again, the pigmentation is just sensational

Hazy Hazel

Silver Lining

Luxe - This is my least favorite of them.

I'm sorry for the long post - I just get a little excited.

There WILL be a Part 2 to this... ;)

I hope you guys liked this! If you haven't tried these out, they're just amazing. My favorites are Drama, Butternut, and Day 2 Night. 

Celebratory LOTD and mini review

Like I said in my previous post, I said I would be blogging a lot more once winter break started and once I turned in everything.

So this is a LOTD I did last weekend. I know hot pink lips are in, so I wanted to try something out with that. Also, I keep forgetting I have this purple NYX liner. So I wanted to do something utilizing these two elements.

Here's what I came up with:

Here's what I used:
Face
Clinique Acne Solutions Liquid Makeup in Alabaster
Clinique Soft-Pressed Powder Blusher in Pink Blush (I love this! It's just a classic pink blush that's so pretty and natural)

Eyes
ELF Mineral Eye Primer
NYX Eyebrow Cake Powder
Clinique Colour Surge Eyeshadow Duo in Chocolate Chip/French Vanilla
Bourjois Eyeshadow in Beige Rose
NYX Studio Liquid Liner in Extreme Plum Purple
Clinique Lash Doubling Mascara
Loreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara

Lips
NYX Round Lipstick in Shiva (such a gorgeous color! I love it!)
ELF blush in Flushed (I just pressed this on top to mattify the lips and make it even more hot pink)

Now on to the mini review...
I have a lot of things to say about the NYX liner.
No swatches, sorry, I think you can see in the pictures above.

I had a lot of hopes for this. I love NYX... not the biggest fan anymore. I don't know what it is. I'm just losing my love for it, and not just due to this product.

Pros:

• beautiful color
• price

Cons:

• the brush: it's like a crappy kindergarten paintbrush. It's hard to control the line.
• the formula: it's way too watery. The liquidity basically dilutes the pigmentation and you end up having to pack on color
• Once it's dried, it's flaky and caky and takes away from the beauty of the color
• Since it's hard to control the line, a lot of the product ends up in my lashes. Even after I wipe the lashes, once it's time to put on some mascara, it gets all clumpy and spidery and gross. I hope you understand what I mean.

I'm sure there's more to add, but that's it in a nutshell. I wanted to love this, but I absolutely hate it. I'll probably continue using it, trying to make sense of it. I hate wasting makeup, even if I didn't spend that much on it.

Have you guys tried out this product? Anything to add? Any similar experiences? Absolutely loved it?
Please let me know!

And let me know what you guys think about the look I created. I'm not that crazy about it... I just don't think hot pink lips are for me. And the eyeliner just pisses me off.

I'll be posting a lot more for you guys, so keep following, commenting, and everything! Thanks so much for your support!